Deathwish
by Malicious Words and Happiness
Summary: Complete The cat wasn’t the only animal left out of the zodiac, it had made sure to tell three other animals of 'date' of the banquet. But now these three are making another appearance as their vengeful spirits. And just who is posessed by them? Well...
1. The Wolf

Title: Deathwish

Disclaimer: I do not own the manga or the anime, Fruits Basket. All creative rights via publishing/publicizing this belong to the original writer, and not myself. I do not intend nor expect any form of profit for my own twist of events.

* * *

The cat wasn't the only animal left out of the zodiac, for it had made sure to tell three other animals of the news he'd heard from his neighbor, the rat. But this date was incorrect, and thus three animals were forgotten, the fourth being the cat. But now these three are making another appearance—as their vengeful spirits. And just whom is it that is possessed by them? Well…

"Sohma-kun, this behavior is unacceptable." Sensei lectured to the small, thin teenager sitting in the chair before him.

"I know." Etsu pouted in an obstinate manner as she crossed her arms over her chest and glowered at her feet.

"Your parents are going to be called, this time. You've already gotten your warning."

Her eyes widened and she jolted up from her seat in a near inexplicable fury. Her long, gray-black, brown-flecked hair fanned out at the sudden movement, fire brewing behind her copper irises. She pointed a slender finger threateningly at the teacher.

"You're not calling my parents!" Etsu shrieked angrily. "They hate me! Did you hear that? They're ASHAMED of me!"

Sensei's expression took on a sympathetic look. "Do you need to speak with a counselor about this?"

Etsu growled in an inhuman way under her breath. "Does this look like the face of someone who needs to see a shrink?"

He studied her expression. "I won't answer that directly, Sohma-kun, but I believe this matter needs to be handled outside of school. If whatever is going on with your parents is causing you to take it out by vandalizing school property and being violent with the other students, something needs to be done and fast."

"You don't know why they hate me!" Etsu shouted accusatorily. "You'd be revolted, you'd want to _die_ if you knew!"

Sensei stared at the student in a rather incredulous manner. Finally, he spoke. "I believe you can confide in me."

"You asked for it!" She cried, and threw her arms around her homeroom teacher. He stared down at her for a second before she disappeared with a large puff of pitch-black smoke.

--

Hatori Sohma stepped out of his office and sighed passively. Etsu looked up at him, childish innocence radiating from her expression as her eyes displayed that she knew what she had done wrong. Hatori sat down in a chair beside her, and tapped his blunt fingernails on the armrest, waiting for her to speak.

"You gonna preach at me?" Etsu questioned in a tone that suggested that she had been in the situation many times before.

"There's nothing to say." Hatori stated simply, igniting a cigarette and pocketing his lighter. "I've told you this numerous times: no one other than those trusted by Akito is to know of the curse. Are you aware that there are Sohmas that don't even know about it?"

"You're preaching at me!" Etsu groaned. Hatori raised a hand to silence her.

"More importantly, there are people on the inside—no, even people _with_ the curse that don't know about the three Outsiders." He told her with a disapproving stare.

"There are _four_ Outsiders." Etsu corrected sourly.

"The cat is already known to exist." Hatori replied. "You, as the wolf, are unknown to the Sohma family. The only people on the Inside who know about you are your parents, the other two Outsiders, Akito, and myself."

"Akito is the only one that treats me like a human. My parents are revolted by me." Etsu stated rather distantly. "And I swear on a dead man's grave that you are, too."

"I'm not disgusted, yet I am slightly surprised."

"Surprised about what?" Etsu demanded. "Didn't think I could exist? Think about it—why _wouldn't_ the cat tell other animals? Huh?"

"I'm surprised that you've been hiding yourself from the rest of those that are cursed." Hatori pressed the remains of the cigarette into the ashtray until it burnt out and placed the tray on the tile floor.

An expression of shock painted across the teenager's face. "I'm not hiding myself. You know about me, and you're cursed. See? I'm not hiding." Her tone held an unmistakable urge to prove herself.

"I only know about you because of the large amount of memories I have to suppress." Hatori stated with a slightly scolding color to his voice.

She looked away sulkily. "I hate it at that school. All the teachers do is yell at me for acting like myself. Isn't that what you're supposed to do? Why do they tell you that if you're not supposed to do it?

"Then maybe you should consider a different school."

She blinked and looked up at him. "Different how?"

He sighed. "Different like public. As in, the high school that Yuki—and soon, Kyo—goes to."

Etsu sprang up from her seat, an expression of horror on her face. "ARE YOU INSANE?" She demanded loudly. "I'm not going to school with_ two other members of the zodiac!_ I'm an Outsider, remember?"

"I thought you didn't hide yourself." Hatori pointed out.

"I don't."

"And I thought you knew that the cat is an Outsider." He added.

"I do."

"Then perhaps it is time for a change." Hatori said wisely.

"Whatever." Etsu stood up and rolled her eyes.

"Where are you going?" Hatori questioned.

"I'm going to change clothes," she told him upon realizing that she was still wearing her white sailor-style school uniform. "Then, I don't know. Maybe I'll be back."

"Etsu," Hatori stated. She turned around expectantly. "Don't expect to be treated kindly by Akito forever. He doesn't particularly like Outsiders."

"Yeah, yeah." Etsu droned, rolling her eyes once more. She turned on her heel and set off down the hallway, disappearing down the staircase.

'Public school.' She scoffed in her thoughts. 'Akito-san told me to go to an all-girl private school for a reason. Sometimes it's like she's the only one with a logical way of looking at things for us—both members _and_ Outsiders. Hatori should know he doesn't gave to carry on that male-pronoun charade with me…right?' She shook her head and pushed open the door of her house.

"Etsu?" A dull voice called from the living room. Etsu paused in the act of taking off her shoes.

"Yeah, who else would it be?" She called back sourly. She dropped her school bag to the floor and trudged upstairs.

'I'm surprised that you hide yourself from the other members of the Zodiac.'

Etsu closed her eyes and thought back. It wasn't exactly by her own choice that she'd lived a life isolated and hidden from the others that shared the curse. Her mother kept her inside their house on 'Inside' property. She never met them at school due to Akito's instructions for going to an all-girl private school. But even that didn't seem to work. There were still male teachers about. Maybe, as Hatori said, it was time for a change.

She sifted through her dresser until she found her usual attire of dark clothing, chains, and studs. She threw on a black V-neck tank top dress, fishnet tights, three-row studded belt, an oversized black ribcage hoodie that extended an inch after the dress, and all black converse high-tops. She stole a glance in the mirror and strode out the door, pulling her hood over her head as she did so.

Past:

"Akito-san?" Her mother asked, knocking once on the door. "She's here—Etsu. I brought her as you requested."

"Very well."

She was shocked to hear a child's voice. She peered inside the room to see a small boy, about her age. He was pale as a ghost with black hair, and held a rather sickly tinge. He wore a kimono that was slightly too large for his frame. And then the tears started coming. She couldn't explain why or how, only that her mind was a whirl of feelings. She wanted to cower from this person, yet wanted to be near them at the same time.

She'd seen Kyo before—though not as she'd expected him to be.

"It's disgusting." Akito seemed to be speaking to himself. She peered around the frame of the door to see one of the most revolting creatures she'd ever seen—and could probably ever imagine. It had the form of a shell-less crab mutated in the lab of some deranged scientist and was an ugly brown hue. Where Kyo's hands were supposed to be to be there were to large paw-like objects—though without the fur or hair—that bore long, sharp talons.

"I've never seen anything so ugly." He continued on. There was a small plinking as red and white beads fell to the ground. She simultaneously touched her gold locket necklace. "And that smell—awful. It smells like something dead and rotting. It's the cat's evil spirit. _This_ is its true form."

She felt her heart skip a beat. Cat. If this is what happened to the Outsiders…

"Akito-san, am I really like that?" She sobbed. "Am I like that…thing?"

"Of course you are." He spoke the words with a rather disturbing calmness. "Why do you think you wear that locket? Have you ever once opened it?"

"No, I haven't." She picked the little gold locket up from her collar and made to open it. "Will I transform?"

"Wait and see." Akito told her coldly.

She clicked open the locket and quickly squinted her eyes shut; yet nothing happened. There was a gathering of a grayish white powder inside, some spots flecked by blurred dots of crimson.

"That is the dust and blood of the priests who decided to keep you looking human." Akito explained in a bored tone. "So don't break it. I don't like the sight of that thing."

She simply nodded and clicked it shut.

Present:

'I guess I'll give public school a try.'

-Two days later-

"Tell us your name." Mayu-sensei instructed.

"Etsu Sohma." She eyed the back row of the room nervously. There sat a small line of people consisting of a girl with shoulder length blonde hair and green eyes who held a rather thuggish air, a girl with a single long, black braid that had a Gothic vibe, a girl with long, brunette hair and blue eyes who looked to be one of those people with persistent happiness that would drive anyone up the wall, and two boys. The first had grayish-purple hair and eyes. His hair was layered and with rather irregular bangs, eyelid-length in the center, jaw length on the left, and mid-neck length on the right. His skin was pale and clear. The second was rather tanned and had flamboyant orange hair that tapered to an end at the nape of his neck at the back, bangs long and full at the front. (She also noticed that the boys were on either end of the line with rather annoyed expressions.)

Nearly everyone in the room gave a small gasp. Etsu scowled darkly and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You can go choose a seat near your…family members." Mayu told her, pointing to the back of the room and getting a rather nasty glare from Etsu, who ventured to the back of the classroom anyway.

"So you're a Sohma?!" The brunette sprang up from her chair as soon as Etsu went past her. She stopped dead in her tracks and turned around. "Oh, um, hi! I'm Tohru Honda!" She chirped.

"I think you know I'm Etsu Sohma." Etsu's voice sounded considerably colder than when Tohru had first heard her speak. "Yes, I am a Sohma." She added with a roll of her eyes.

Realization seemed to have hit the brunette, Tohru, hard. She suddenly gave a jolt. "These are my two friends, Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima!" She explained, pointing them out. "And this is Kyo, and this is Yuki. But you're in the same family so I guess you know about them…" she didn't finish her sentence, for Etsu interrupted.

She pointed a shaking finger at Kyo and smiled in a rather manic way. "I know who you are." She told him with a rather insane edge to her grin and trembling frame. "You. You're the c-cat."

He shot up from his seat and slapped a hand over her mouth. "Do you have any common sense?" He demanded angrily. "You can't say that in school!" He suddenly snatched his hand back and wrung his wrist in a rather dramatic way.

"Did the girl hurt you, Kyon-Kyon?" A classmate teased.

"The hell she did!" Kyo sneered. "She _bit_ me!"

Etsu rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath. "Be a man, Kyon-Kyon."

"Why you little—!"

"I don't believe I've ever seen you around before," Yuki spoke at last, smiling kindly at Etsu. "Are you from the Outside?"

She cringed visibly. "I live on the Inside. But then again, I've never seen you around. Are _you_ from the Outside?"

"No, I left the main house." Yuki told her with a smile.

"When do we get out of here?" Etsu asked in a tone suggesting she was already bored.

"Well, lunch is soon!" Tohru told her cheerfully. "Do you want to sit with us?"

"Um…"

-Lunch-

"I find it rather surprising, Etsu-san." Yuki was saying. "To think, we're in the same family and share a certain…characteristic…yet I never knew about you."

"Who did?" Etsu asked rhetorically, glaring down at the table. "So who are you?"

"Your memory sucks." Kyo scoffed.

She glared at him. "I meant in the Zodiac."

"Why do you keep talking about that in school?" Kyo demanded, annoyed.

"Hmm…Now I know why Hatori has to suppress so many memories…" She murmured thoughtfully.

"And why am I not surprised?" Kyo growled.

"So you're in the Zodiac?" Tohru asked happily. "Which animal are you?"

"I'm not exactly a qualified member, like the cat." Etsu said this as she sent Kyo another glare. "I'm what they call an Outsider because that stupid cat believed what that damn rat told him." She crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes. "So the cat spread the news to the wolf, the owl, and the fox."

"That's fascinating!" Tohru chirped.

"_I'm_ the wolf."

"So have you met the other Sohmas?" Tohru asked happily.

Etsu smiled darkly and looked away. "No, this is the first time other than Hatori. I mainly stay with Akito for the majority of my time."

Yuki stared at her with a rather appalled expression and Kyo choked on the water he was drinking.

"But I hate it there." Etsu continued. "My parents are just…constricting. I need to get out."

'Perhaps it is time for a change.'

"Etsu-san, do we have the opportunity for you!" Tohru exclaimed.

"There is no way in hell…" Kyo muttered. "No more girls in that house."

"Huh?" Etsu asked, confused.

"Do you want to come live with us in Shigure's house?" Tohru asked, unaware of Kyo as he made rapid hand movements signaling 'no.'

Etsu's eyes widened and the cafeteria background was replaced by a dark, swirling vortex as Etsu's hair blew lightly in the imaginary wind. Her expression held utter shock. "I can't just leave Akito…and for another member of the Zodiac, sh—he would be angry at me…"

Tohru smiled again as the vortex and wind disappeared. "It will be fine. Trust me."

'Trust me.'

Etsu found herself smiling, as well. "Okay."

-That night-

Etsu found herself on Shigure's roof, staring up at the moon melancholically in her black shorts and crimson wife beater tank top, her hair pulled into a small, messy bun at the nape of her neck and her long bangs hanging in her face. She sighed quietly and wrapped her arms around her knees.

Past:

"I hate your name." Akito told her rather coldly, tracing his fingers over her hair. "I really despise it."

"I'm…sorry." She murmured, looking downward.

"So let me change it." Akito purred, making Etsu dare to look up.

"Change…it?" She repeated quietly. He nodded.

"Of course," he ran his fingers through her hair. "Orii-chan, my petty, pretty wolf."

Etsu smiled gently. "Yes. Thank you greatly, Akito-sama."

The young boy before her gave a low laugh. "I'll make them sell you to me. I have two toys now—Yuki and Orii."

_I couldn't stop smiling. Thinking about it now, I should have known that Akito couldn't and _wouldn't_ substitute for the years of parental and social neglect. But at the time, she was the world._

-A few weeks later-

"Orii-baka!" Akito shrieked in fury. "Don't look at me with those…colored eyes…of yours!"

_I could never understand why she liked them and hated them. Perhaps, the fact that her own were so…plain and dark?_

She quickly backed away, readying herself for the swing and the pain. She watched him from the corner of her eyes as he raised a horsewhip in his right hand. The material stung at her ankles like fire.

"Akito!" A scolding voice called from the now agape doorway. A teenager looking to be around sixteen stood in the doorway. His hair was ear-length and brunette.

Akito turned around and smiled at him sadistically. "Orii-chan and I were playing."

_Playing. We were only playing, Hatori. The cuts aren't too deep. The scars aren't too noticeable._

-Three months later-

Akito flew into the room frantically and slammed the door shut behind him.

"Akito-sama?" Etsu asked. He whirled around and stared at her with wide, shock-stricken eyes. And then, without warning, he bolted toward her and clasped his hands tightly around her upper arms, and begun shaking her roughly.

"Are you crying, Akito-sama?" Etsu questioned, appalled.

"Orii-chan, you're not going to leave me!" He cried. "You won't break our bond! I won't allow it!"

She stared at him as he released her arms, the flesh paled from his grip.

_A girl—a crying girl—and I would do anything to stop her tears. I don't know how, but in that moment…I knew._

* * *

Yes, I meant PETTY. Not pretty. 


	2. The Owl

Disclaimer: Credit to Lesley Nelson-Burns for the song at the end. It is not my own.

* * *

Etsu sat at Shigure's table nervously, staring down at the food Tohru placed in front of her. She wore a pair of hounds tooth print short-shorts and the usual fishnets—this combination was making Shigure rather red in the face and he made a point to look away—and a short-sleeved black skull shirt, not to mention the usual of all-black converse high tops and ribcage hoodie. 

"You gonna eat it or just stare at it and pretend to?" Kyo sneered, pointing his chopsticks at her accusatorily. "I mean, jeez. If someone decided to help me out in my time of need I'd at least eat their—!" His sentence was cut short by a rough smack on the face delivered by Yuki.

He shot Kyo a dirty look before a cheerful expression captured his, let's face it, slightly girlish face and he smiled at Etsu warmly. "Don't pay any mind to Kyo. He's only upset that he has to share his room."

"I'm not sharing my room with her!" Kyo growled. "She can sleep outside like the damned dog she is!"

Etsu stood up suddenly and brought her fist down onto the table with a rattle of china, her eyes flashing and rage set in her expression.

"Etsu-san?" Tohru asked, bewildered.

She growled something inaudible under her breath and shot a warning look at Yuki, who blinked in confusion.

"Say that again?" Yuki requested, confused.

"I said you didn't hit him hard enough!" Etsu shrieked angrily in a way that would make Akito at the height of murderous anger look like a Care Bear. Tohru and Yuki moved slightly away from her.

'She's just like Haru…' Yuki thought.

Kyo stood up, as well, and smiled at her challengingly. "You got something to say, then SAY it."

"Physically or verbally?" Etsu retorted.

"You want to take this outside?" Kyo challenged.

"Damn straight!" Etsu hissed.

-Outside-

"Kyo-kun should have listened to her…" Tohru squeaked, trying and failing at countless attempts to cover her eyes against the battle in the yard.

Etsu threw punches as fast as Kyo could dodge them. She brought her leg up and kicked him—hard—in the back of his knees before he could turn around. Tohru whimpered weakly as Kyo fell to the ground out of imbalance. She hovered over him and brought her fist down in the little space between his shoulder and his neck.

"That has to hurt…" Yuki muttered quietly.

"Kyo-kun isn't doing so well against her." Tohru acknowledged.

"No, he isn't." Yuki agreed.

"But shouldn't we try to stop them?" Tohru asked worriedly.

"No."

"Come on, Kyon-Kyon!" Etsu taunted, sporting a bloody nose. "Not so hot, are we? You fight like a girl!"

"And what does that make you?" Kyo demanded. "You _are_ a girl!"

"You're a—_Sora_!" Etsu suddenly exclaimed, letting go of Kyo's arm that she was twisting and looking off in the direction of the gravel 'driveway.'

"What the hell do you mean?" Kyo asked rather stupidly.

There was a boy, about Yuki's height, staggering down the drive. His hair was layered and tapered to an end at the nape of his neck on the back, his bangs long and full in the front. His hair was an unnatural shade of gold blonde, random deposits of grayish brunette rippling throughout the layers like lowlights. His roots were the grayish brunette hue. His eyes were medium brown, short lines of blue spread out at millimeter-wide intervals around his pupils and regular deposits of green in between the lines. He wore cargo pants similar to Kyo's, but black, and a black short-sleeved shirt.

"Sora, is something wrong?" Etsu asked, a concerned, motherly edge to her voice as she sidestepped Kyo and made her way over to him. "Why are you at Shigure's house? Are you sick? Why are you walking like that?"

He didn't reply, and then seemed to give up on standing—let alone walking—entirely. He went limp and fell to the ground on his hands and knees. Etsu screamed loudly and crouched over him.

"Who is that?" Tohru asked, confused.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Yuki shrugged. "I think that might be the Owl, though."

Tohru drew out her inhale excitedly. 'So this is Sora Sohma?' She thought in anticipation.

"Sora, you idiot!" Etsu yelled. "You went and got yourself shot again!"

Tohru gasped loudly.

Etsu jerked upward and pointed threateningly at Yuki. "Make yourself useful and call Hatori-san!"

"E-Etsu-san, I don't know if we have enough time to call Hatori b-before something h-happens!" Tohru stammered. 'This is really bad!' She thought in horror.

Yuki stepped inside and Tohru rushed over to Sora, hovering around him in a rather annoying manner that made Etsu wonder momentarily if she were some human/hummingbird crossbreed.

"His arm!" Tohru exclaimed, pointing at the two circular wounds in Sora's right arm. "It's bleeding really badly!"

"And you think I didn't notice—don't stand that close!" Etsu hissed as her eyes glowed crimson in a rather demonic way that made Tohru jerk her outstretched hand back.

"And your legs!" Tohru noticed, struggling to keep her voice sounding somewhat composed. "Can you move them?"

He looked up at her, his expression calm and not showing the slightest bit pain after being shot twice and possibly having sprained both of his ankles. He cocked his head to the side in an owlish manner and frowned silently as if to wonder why he was being asked such a question. He blinked at her a few times before nodding in response to her inquiry.

_I've seen people care about me, before. I got it all the time before my parents committed joint-suicide over me—an "I love you, Sora." Before I fell asleep. But that was in the past. After they died, I couldn't speak. My throat just permanently closed. But this is disturbing—this girl is worried about me in a motherly way. Etsu, she just isn't like that. I know she's family. But seeing that this girl is so worried about me I can practically taste it…it makes me want to speak._

"Sora-san?" Tohru asked; waving her hand in front of the spacing teen's face despite the nasty glare that Etsu was giving her.

Sora closed his eyes and exhaled silently, then held his hand out to Etsu expectantly. Tohru blinked at him in mild confusion, and then Etsu stood up, stretched her legs, and sprinted into the house. She returned with a dark blue notebook and a pen. Sora hastily began to write, bunching up his shoulders as Tohru and Etsu leaned over them to see what the note said.

'No one ever calls me 'san.'' It read.

An imaginary jolt of electricity shot up Tohru's spine. "I'm so sorry, Sora-sa—kun! Or do you not like that either? Sora-sama? Sora-chan? Sora-senpai? Wait—are you my senpai?"

He held out a note to her.

"Oh, um, okay." She mumbled uncertainly, taking it from his slender hands.

"Just call me Sora. It's what everyone else does, anyway." He wrote.

Realization once again reared its ugly head. Tohru hurriedly took his right arm and examined it. "Hatori is probably on his way." She assured him. "So we should probably keep these covered until he gets here—you know, so it doesn't get infected." She smiled warmly.

_I'm acting like an idiot. Staring at her like she's just told me I've won all of the money in the world—she's blissfully unaware that I'm an Outsider. But, then again, she probably doesn't know of the curse. But if I keep this up much longer—I might accidentally say something._

He nodded and looked away due to the noticeable flush that was creeping up his face and standing out against pale skin. He propped his arm up on his knee and rest his chin on his fist.

"Um, Sora?" Tohru asked. He looked over at her lazily. "Sorry if I'm intruding but…doesn't that hurt?" She motioned towards his right arm. He once again began writing—with his left hand, Tohru noticed.

"No, not really. I'd explain it on better terms, but I can't."

Etsu rolled her eyes. "Tohru's cool—she knows about the curse."

"That's right!" Tohru chirped, smiling gleefully.

Sora gave an annoyed eye roll at being proven wrong and wrote again, handing it to Tohru when he finished and resuming his earlier pose.

"No, it doesn't hurt. I'm the owl, you see. So when I'm in that form and get, well, shot by hunters, it usually hits my wings—feathers. But when I'm human again, it's more visible as it's on my skin. It used to hurt terribly before I could adjust, but now I'm used to the sensation."

"That's really amazing, Sora-san!" Tohru complimented, then her face turned a beet red color and she slapped both hands over her mouth. She squinted her eyes shut and made to cover them, but a loud snap broke her out of her reverie of humiliation. She opened them to see Sora gazing at her impatiently, a piece of paper in his hand.

"Fine, fine. I'll make an exception. Use whatever suffixes you want."

Tohru laughed. "Okay!"

Etsu sighed, making her presence known. "Alright, well when's lunch? I'm hungry."

"I COMPLETELY FORGOT!" Tohru exclaimed, and bolted into the house.

-Lunch-

"My, my!" Shigure exclaimed, leaning back and closing his eyes dramatically. "So Etsu _and_ Sora are here in my humble home! What an honor!" He added in a clearly false, exaggerated tone.

"You didn't even know who we were." Etsu growled.

"These aren't like your other wounds," Hatori was saying to Sora. "And you've had quite a history, I daresay, with getting shot in the 'wing.'"

Sora nodded sullenly.

"And your ankles are sprained—_both of them_. How did you manage that?"

Sora shrugged and picked up the black ink pen and dark blue notebook.

Hatori gave a somewhat exasperated sigh yet took the note anyway. "That sounds like a weak excuse." He scolded. "Tell me the real reason."

Etsu looked over, attention caught.

Sora stared at Hatori for a moment before standing up quickly and backing against the wall, then turning quickly and sprinting out the door in a rather unnatural way for someone who'd just sprained both of their ankles.

_Sora: I've heard the rumors about Hatori. I know what's true and what isn't. But when he just kept trying to get it out of me without saying or doing anything—I couldn't stand it. I never have and never will let anyone see through me; even if I can see through them like glass._

_Tohru: Sora-san's eyes looked different. He looked scared, hurt, hopeful, and a ton of other emotions at the same time. I just hope he's okay…_

"Tohru-chan!" Etsu whined.

Tohru snapped back to reality. "Huh? Oh! What do you need, um, Sora—eh! I mean Etsu-san?" She spoke quickly and stumbled over the words.

Etsu blinked quickly a few times then smiled in an exaggerated way, holding up her plate. "Do we have enough for seconds?"

Tohru grinned and took Etsu's plate, heading into the kitchen.

"Is Akito okay without me there?" Etsu asked, turning to Hatori. "He isn't bored, is he?" She scolded herself mentally for not sending the other two out of the room so that she could speak using female pronouns rather than carrying on with Akito's false persona.

Yuki and Kyo stared at her with rather surprised expressions.

"Akito is fine—he's in bed with a fever. Doctor's orders." Hatori told her in a somewhat bored tone as though it was something that happened regularly. "But I think you should be more worried about Sora."

Etsu's eyes widened as the swirling vortex returned—see chapter one—and she stood up slowly and in a demented manner. "I'm going to go look for him." She informed the inhabitants of the room confidently, and marched out the door with a rather profound determination.

Tohru stepped back into the room with Etsu's refilled plate, looking around in a confused manner. "Where's Etsu?" She asked, setting the plate down where the girl was once sitting. She subconsciously noticed that Yuki and Kyo had left the room, as well.

"She went out to look for Sora." Hatori told her.

"Why doesn't Sora…speak?" Tohru asked carefully. The question had been nagging at her since he first started writing the notes.

"Sora stopped speaking after his parents both committed suicide—over him, it is rumored. He hasn't said a word since—he just writes those notes." Hatori explained. "He also doesn't handle things very well. Since he doesn't speak, he can't address emotions directly, and so they accumulate over time. It isn't too uncommon for him to go running off somewhere like this."

Tohru bit her lip and looked down at her feet.

-Etsu

"Sora!" She called into the forest. "Sora, come on. Where are you?"

Upon receiving no reply—not like she expected one, anyway—she placed her hands on her hips and frowned disapprovingly at the tops of the trees. Etsu rolled up her sleeves and dashed into the woods.

-Later that night-

"I found him!" Etsu called loudly, despite the time. Her watch read 12:03 AM. She peered around the doorframe, readjusting the position of the bundle made of her jacket that rest in her scrawny arms.

_They're asleep_. She thought, annoyed.

Etsu sighed and strolled into the living room, setting down her bundle of jacket onto the mattress on the living room floor and kicking off her shoes. She fumbled around in the dim light until she found her pajamas. She pranced in the direction of the bathroom and rest a hand on the knob—

"Etsu-kun!"

"AAH!" Etsu shrieked, and jumped backward.

Tohru gave a loud gasp. "Are you alright, Etsu-kun?"

"Yeah, Tohru," Etsu panted. "Don't do that—you startled me to hell."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Tohru apologized, bowing vigorously. A firm hand pressed against the top of her head.

"You don't have to bow, 'kay?" Etsu confirmed, standing up.

"Okay."

"Jeez, so what did you need?" Etsu absentmindedly scratched the back of her head.

"Well, I wanted to make sure Sora-kun was alright." Tohru admitted sheepishly.

"You could have said that in the first place but whatever." Etsu shrugged and motioned for Tohru to follow her. She stopped at the sofa and began to slowly pull a fold away until the face of a medium-sized owl was visible, its eyes shut.

"Is that…?" Tohru asked, her voice trailing off as Etsu nodded.

"Do you sing, Tohru?" Etsu asked randomly.

"Oh, well, I don't know." Tohru replied with a smile. "My mom used to sing, sometimes. But it wasn't a constant thing."

"She used to?"

"Well…my mom died last May." Tohru explained with a rather sad smile.

"You mean May of this year?" Etsu questioned, shocked. "Let's see…it's October now, so that was five months ago."

Tohru nodded.

"Wow…" Etsu's voice trailed off.

"So do you sing, Etsu-san?"

Etsu grinned. "Most of the time it's just to myself."

Tohru's eyes widened and she clasped her hands together. "Would you? I mean…if you don't want to you don't have to but if you don't mind…"

Etsu shrugged again. "Nah, I don't really mind."

Tohru gave a small laugh.

Etsu took a breath. "Fare you well, my dear

"I must be gone,

"And leave you for a while.

"If I run away

"I'll come back again,

"Though I've run ten thousand miles, my dear

"Though I've run ten thousand miles." Her voice was a quiet soprano.

"That was amazing, Etsu-san!" Tohru complimented.

A fiery red blush took over Etsu's face. "No, I'm not that great."

"Of course you are!" Tohru insisted. "It's like angels…"

Etsu smiled shyly, her face nearing the 'maroon' point. "It's an English song—The Turtle Dove."

"And I think you're good at it, Etsu-san." Tohru told her, still smiling.

"There's another version—actually, there's tons of versions." Etsu informed her, then closed her eyes. "O can't you see yon little turtle dove  
sitting under the mulberry tree?  
See how that she doth mourn for her true love:  
And I shall mourn for thee, my dear,  
and I shall mourn for thee.

O fare thee well, my little turtle dove,  
And fare thee well for a-while;  
But though I go I'll surely come again,  
If I go ten thousand mile, my dear,  
If I go ten thousand mile.

Ten thousand mile is very far away,  
for you to return to me,  
you leave me here to lament, and well a day  
My tears you will not see, my love,  
my tears you will not see.

The crow that's black, my little turtle dove,  
Shall change its color white;  
Before I'm false to the maiden I love,  
The noon-day shall be night, my dear,  
The noon-day shall be night.

The hills shall fly, my little turtle dove,  
The roaring billows burn,  
Before my heart shall suffer me to fail,  
Or I a traitor turn, my dear,  
Or I a traitor turn."

There was a semi-loud 'boom' and then the owl disappeared.

"GAH!" Tohru squealed, and turned around hurriedly.

"Oh…I'm sorry, Sora-kun," Etsu said in a small, childish voice. "But I think I couldn't find your clothes, so I didn't bother looking for them more…"

He glared daggers at her with a, "You-are-going-to-DIE" expression, shielding himself with her jacket.

Etsu giggled and smacked him on the shoulder. "Just kidding!"


	3. The Fox

A/N: Hoorah at last, the all-wonderful fox.

* * *

It was a rainy day.

"So we'll be leaving," Etsu told everyone with a grin. "It's been nice meeting you, Tohru, Yuki," her expression hardened. "…Kyo."

Sora nodded shortly.

"Be careful, the roads are probably slick," Tohru warned. "So drivers might not see you."

"Thank you, Tohru Honda-san." Sora wrote.

"See you soon!" Etsu called over her shoulder as she and Sora exited the drive and turned into a path in the forest, Etsu holding a black umbrella over her head.

_Hi! It's me, Tohru Honda. Recently I met Etsu and Sora Sohma—the forgotten Owl and Wolf from the Chinese Zodiac! Etsu seems like a nice girl, but there's just something about her I can't pick out. And Sora is so quiet…I'm just glad that I had the opportunity to meet them! And I look forward to meeting the third—the Fox._

There was a distant rumble of thunder and the rain came down in thick sheets. Tohru retreated back to the living room where Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure were sitting around the table. There was a rather thick silence.

"Do you know who Fox-san is?" Tohru asked finally. The three tensed visibly, as though it were a manner they preferred to avoid.

"Which one of 'em?" Kyo asked. "There are two."

"Really?" Tohru asked excitedly. "Do you know their names?"

Shigure sighed. "The first fox, a male, is Ichigo Sohma. And Ichigo…well…"

"He's a psychopath." Kyo cut in with a roll of his eyes. "We grew up together—he moved into Shishou's house after his parents died. But it was murder—he killed his parents with his own two hands."

Tohru gasped, taken aback, yet Kyo continued on.

"He's always been a twisted kid, though."

"So, um…who's the other fox?" Tohru asked uncertainly.

"Her name is Kyoumi," Yuki explained. "And her personality is very similar to…" His sentence remained unfinished, for Kyo cut him off.

"SHE'S EXACTLY LIKE KAGURA!" Kyo exclaimed, annoyed. "I hate having to deal with her 'cause those two are like twins!"

"Excuse me…um…who are you talking about?" A small, high voice asked, apparently out of nowhere.

Kyo's eyes widened, pupils dilated. He slowly directed his gaze to the sliding door. "There is no way in _hell_…" He muttered, his tone holding a hint of horror.

Tohru blinked and looked over as well. "Who is that?"

"Don't let her in!" Kyo warned, but to no avail. Tohru stood up slowly and headed for the door, opening it fully and peering outside, subconsciously noticing that the rain had stopped.

"I don't see anyone." Tohru reported, confused.

There came a loud bang, as though something had smacked against the outer wall. Tohru jumped startled, then noticed the figure standing there. There was a small girl standing beside the door, her eyes obscured by her long bangs. Her hair was long and pure white. She wore a navy blue dress, the sleeves of which were puffy at the top, becoming skin-tight against her thin arms after an inch past the shoulder blades. The dress extended to about an inch above her knees. She also wore white tights and boots the same color as the dress. There was a cinnamon-colored fox plush toy attached to strings so that it hung like a backpack.

"Are you…Tohru…Honda?" The girl asked in a quiet, eerie voice.

"Y-yes!" Tohru stammered.

"Oh. Um, I mean, uh…"

"Yes?" Tohru repeated, rather disturbed, as she inched away slightly.

"I'm Kyoumi." She informed Tohru in a quiet, high voice, looking up to reveal light brown eyes. "Kyoumi Sohma—that's my name."

"Oh…hi." Tohru said in a quiet voice, smiling lightly.

She IS like Kagura. Tohru thought.

"I heard you talking about Ichi-chan, and so I was wondering if he was here. Please, please tell me he is!" Kyoumi pleaded, holding a look of pure innocence.

"Oh, um…"

Kyoumi peered around Tohru and her gaze fell on Kyo. Her eyes widened, a red flush creeping over her cheeks. "Ichi-chan?!"

"NO I'M—!" Kyo made to reply.

"ICHI-CHAN!" Kyoumi cried, before she disappeared with a loud slamming noise from the sliding door and a loud shout of "She stays outside!" from Kyo.

Tohru blinked and looked up at Kyo, who held the door firmly shut. "Huh?"

"She always mistakes me for that damned Ichigo!" Kyo spat. "And I don't wanna die today!"

"Ichigo-chan?" Kyoumi called, confused. "The door—it won't open! What happened, Ichigo-chan?"

"Well, damn, Kyoumi!" Kyo called back. "I can't open it either! Maybe we should—GAH!"

Kyoumi's fist penetrated the paper of the door and clutched at Kyo's shirt threateningly, her eyes glowing scarlet in a demonic, Etsu-like way. "**Open the damn door, Ichigo**." She hissed.

-

The sunlight was hardly managing to trickle in through the heavily curtained windows of Akito Sohma's favorite room, bordering the outside of the house. He lay false-serenely on his side, propped elbow supporting his head that was lowered slightly, eyes closed, purposely ignoring the teenage boy in the main section of the room a few feet away.

The boy sat on his knees, eyes placed firmly on the caps of them, glowering at the wall ahead. His hair was around the same cut as Sora's, slightly longer, yet a cinnamon color that paired nicely with the slender, oval shape of the face and vivid cyan hue of the eyes that were narrowed in frustration. Hatori sat in the same position in the back of the room, keeping careful watch on the boy near the front; this particular teenager's temper was very similar to Black Haru's—yet permanent.

"Are you going to say something or do we need to break out the cue cards?" The boy asked darkly, glaring eyes darting over to Akito's silent form as Akito stood slowly and moved to stand in front of him, expression unreadable due to his bangs covering his dark eyes. Akito tried and failed at smacking the boy across the face, for he dodged at an inhuman speed, a devilish grin playing across his lips.

"You!" Akito screeched madly, still attempting to inflict pain on the cinnamon-haired teenager that sat before him, quickly swerving to the opposite direction the second that a potential threat came. "You're a disgrace to all of us—all of us! I can do what I want with my zodiac—even if it means getting rid of one of them!"

The boy stood up slowly, hair hanging in his eyes and head bowed in a manner that suggested an outburst was coming. He directed his gaze upward dilatorily, breathing heavily and repeatedly clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Ichigo—!" Hatori warned.

"Shut up." Ichigo ordered evilly, staring into Akito's eyes with unspeakable—and unthinkable—fury. "You think you're so damn special that you can do whatever the hell you want, don't you? You need a reality check, you pathetic excuse for a human."

_"I'll kill you!"_ Akito raged.

"Then go ahead and kill me." Ichigo hissed. "You want my blood all over your hands and your floor, you sadistic bastard. But if you kill me, you're hitching on for the ride to hell."

Akito reached for the nearest object, which just so happened to be a porcelain vase, and threw it furiously at Ichigo's face, missing his target as Ichigo took a half step to the left before the impact occurred. Akito gave a loud, ferocious shriek.

"I'm glad you'll be dying soon. And if not—I'll step in and _make it happen._" He pronounced the last three words maliciously.

"HATORI!"

Hatori said nothing, yet quickly moved to forward and preceded to force Ichigo away from Akito.

"Let go of me, damn it!" Ichigo demanded.

"Get him out of my sight!" Akito spat.

"You may think you understand us but you don't!" Ichigo screamed, struggling against Hatori's grasp. "It's just because you bear the full weight of our curse that you instantly think you know it all when it comes to us! You don't know shit! You think you've got it bad because you're going to die but here's a fucking reminder: we're all going to die someday! You don't know what this is like! You don't know what it's like to have your damn life presented to you on a silver platter then burned to pieces! You don't know what it's like to never be able to love! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"

_"I'm going to kill you!"_

"You don't know anything—**anything**!"

Akito's rage increased rapidly as he began throwing everything in reach in Ichigo's direction. "GET OUT OF HERE! NEVER COME BACK TO THE SOHMA ESTATE AGAIN! GET OUT NOW!"

"I'd be glad to leave!" Ichigo yelled angrily.

_"**GET OUT!"**_

**-**

"So what brings you here, Kyoumi?" Shigure asked. Kyoumi giggled quietly.

"I thought that Ichigo-chan was here, but I didn't know it was only Kyon-chan." She explained. "I'm not intruding am I, Shii-chan?"

Before he could answer, the door burst open with a loud slam. A cinnamon haired teenager stood in the doorway, panting loudly and with utter rage set in his expression.

_Is this…Ichigo-san?_ Tohru thought, still in the aftershock of being startled by the sudden noise.

"You guys are just popping up all over the place today!" Kyo hissed.

"Shut. Up. You. Damn. Cat. Or. I. Will. Tear. Your. Bloody. Mouth. Right. Off. Your. Face." The boy's tone shook with anger.

Kyoumi stood up hurriedly and flitted over to him, firmly attaching her arms around him. "Ichigo-chan…" She cooed, snuggling her face into his sleeve.

"Get off!" Ichigo ordered, trying—and failing—to shake her off. His sight fell on Tohru, expression falling to a bored appearance. "And just who are you." He droned—it was more like a statement.

"OH!" Tohru exclaimed. "It's—um—it's very nice to meet you I'm Tohru Honda!"

"Uh huh." Ichigo drawled. "Isn't that a masculine name?"

Tohru flushed deeply, at loss for words.

"Yes, but isn't it so cute for a girl?" Shigure cut in rather nervously.

"Whatever."

Kyoumi frowned. "Be happier, Ichigo-chan."

"I _am_ happy." Ichigo sighed. He blinked twice then the rage came back to him. "And you—get offa my arm!" He shouted, pointing threateningly at Kyoumi.

"Aw, Ichigo-kun! A few minutes ago you were letting me hug you!" Kyoumi pouted.

"Yeah, a few minutes ago when man-woman threw my attention out the window!" Ichigo protested, earning a nasty glare from Kyo after calling Tohru "man-woman".

"Ichigo-kun." Kyoumi said shortly. Ichigo looked down at her as she slipped her arms away, head lowered, and rest her hands on a nearby lamp.

"Huh?"

"ICHIGO-KUN, YOU KNOW THAT NO ONE ELSE IN THE WHOLE DAMNED WORLD LOVES YOU AS MUCH AS ME!" Kyoumi shrieked, picking up the lamp and brandishing it threateningly. "YOU KNOW THAT, RIGHT?"

"Yeah I know that now put down the damn lamp!" Ichigo shouted.

Kyoumi gasped and set the lamp down, clamping her hands over her mouth. "You're right, Ichigo-kun." She mumbled, voice muffled slightly. "RIVAL!" She rushed over to Tohru, moving her hands so as to be audible. "But you know that MY Ichigo-kun is off limits, don't you Tohru Honda-san?" Kyoumi demanded.

"Of course!" Tohru nodded frantically. "I mean I wouldn't even think of—!"

"Good!" Kyoumi squealed, and rushed back to Ichigo. "Did you hear that, Ichigo-kun? DID YOU HEAR THAT?"

"Yes, I heard that!" Ichigo groaned.

"Yay!" Kyoumi cheered happily.

"So why are you here, anyway?" Kyo asked. Kyoumi and Ichigo froze and looked over at him.

"I got kicked out of the main house." Ichigo told him with a smirk. "So I need a place to stay."

"Well, doesn't the whole damn world 'need' to stay here?" Kyo demanded.

"Huh?" Ichigo asked stupidly.

"Etsu-san and Sora-san were here, Ichigo…san." Tohru explained.

"I didn't ask you!" Ichigo scolded. "And what the hell do YOU know about them?"

"She knows enough!" Kyo protested.

"Shut up, you damn cat!"

"Why I oughta…"

Kyoumi threw herself at Kyo, tackling him to the floor. She giggled quietly and pinned him down. "You oughta what, Kyo-kun?"

"Gerroff!"

"AHEP!" Kyoumi exclaimed quietly, hurriedly getting off of Kyo and rushing back over to Ichigo. "Ichigo-kun, you can stay with me tonight!"

"You two are NOT staying here!" Kyo shouted.

"And in what world do YOU command this house?" Ichigo demanded, and pointed at Shigure. "HE decides!"

"You damn foxes are starting to get on my nerves…" Kyo muttered angrily.

Kyoumi's appearance shifted to that of the little girl-type that Tohru had first witnessed. She hovered over Shigure's shoulder, one fist over her lips. "Shii-chan, would it be okay for Ichigo-kun and I to stay here for a while? I'll only stay here for a little bit, but Ichigo-kun needs somewhere to stay…"

Shigure grinned. "No trouble at all, Kyoumi-chan."

"NO!" Kyo shouted.

"Yes." Ichigo told him smugly.

Kyoumi tackled Kyo again, grinning happily. "Ichigo-kun is your new housemate, Kyo-kun!"

"Over my dead body!" Kyo sneered.

"Whatever." Ichigo rolled his eyes, bored, and turned around. At that moment, Tohru stepped out of the kitchen…

Ichigo disappeared in a puff of red smoke, leaving behind a thin, cinnamon-colored fox. Tohru practically went into convulsions.

"I am SO SORRY!" She pleaded. "I'll get your clothes—oh! I am so, so sorry!"

"Shut. Up." Ichigo ordered. "You're yelling in my damn ears. Now get out of my sight before the picture gets stuck."

The vortex returned as Tohru clasped her hands together and walked away hurriedly.

"Wow…" She muttered. "He hates me. He really despises me."

Ichigo sighed and narrowed his eyes at the retreating form. Kyoumi knelt down beside him, a thick silence setting in.

"You can't exactly go around saying things like that to her every day." Shigure sighed. "Because she'll actually listen to you."

"That's a good thing." Ichigo retorted.

-

"Tohru-kun?" Kyoumi asked, knocking lightly on her door. "Can I come in?"

The door opened quickly to reveal Tohru, wearing a set of tan pajamas. "Oh, sure! Come in, Kyoumi!"

Kyoumi stepped inside and sat down on Tohru's bed, looking out the window dreamily. "Ichigo-kun, he didn't mean it." She said finally. "You know that, right?"

"Oh, of course!" Tohru stammered, then smiled lightly at Kyoumi. "But I guess I shouldn't have provoked him."

Kyoumi shook her head. "Ichigo-kun doesn't have a very good temper. So I'm sorry he wasn't very nice."

"Oh, no, it's okay!" Tohru stated hurriedly. "Really—it's fine."

-

Ichigo found himself on the roof, staring up at the moon.

_She's got some weird impact on me—I can just feel it whenever she speaks. Who the hell is she, anyway? She thinks that she gets the Sohmas because she knows about the curse? Hell with it. She's like Akito. Stupid, stupid girl—she doesn't know how bad the Curse is._


	4. The Time

_From age one to seventeen, there was nothing in the world but darkness, Akito, and whatever I could see from the window._

Past:

"Akito-san," Her mother, Natsumi rapped once on the door with the back of her hand, her ebony hair lightly shaking at the movement, green eyes fixed on the door. She held a strong beauty. "I've brought her for you—Etsu."

"Come in,"

She was shocked to hear a child's voice. She peered inside the room to see a small boy, about her age. He was pale as a ghost with black hair, and held a rather sickly tinge. He wore a kimono that was slightly too large for his frame. And then the tears started coming. She couldn't explain why or how, only that her mind was a whirl of feelings. She wanted to cower from this person, yet wanted to be near them at the same time.

"Etsu!" Natsumi snapped. "Don't cry in front of the head of the family! Stop that!"

She heard her mother's words clearly, yet the tears wouldn't stop coming.

She hardly noticed as Akito ghosted an arm around her shoulders. She looked up to see him smiling in a rather cold manner, eyes closed. "It's quiet now, Etsu-kun." He told her. "We meet at last."

_My life as I knew it was centered on Akito. _

"I really hate your name." Akito narrowed his eyes at her. "I really despise it. That woman didn't name you right, at all."

She lowered her head. "Oh…I'm sorry."

"So let me change it."

Etsu gasped shortly and looked up, eyes wide. "Change…it?"

"Yes, change it." Akito rolled his eyes impatiently. "Of course." He ran his fingers through her hair in a somewhat uncomfortable, somewhat comforting way. "Orii-chan, my petty, pretty wolf."

A smile broke out across her juvenile face. "Yes. Thank you greatly, Akito-sama."

Chan. He calls me Orii-chan because that suffix holds no form of respect. He always said that he was one level higher.

"Orii-baka!" Akito shrieked. "Don't look at me with those…colored eyes…of yours!"

She quickly backed away, preparing herself for the pain that normally followed one of his rages. Her shoulders pressed against the wall and she felt the material snap against her ankles, leaving a stinging trail behind.

"Akito!" A scolding voice called from the now agape doorway. A teenager looking to be around sixteen stood in the doorway. His hair was ear-length and brunette.

Akito turned around and smiled at him sadistically. "Orii-chan and I were playing."

_Playing. Only playing. That was always my excuse._

Akito flew into the room frantically and slammed the door shut behind him.

"Akito-sama?" Etsu asked. He whirled around and stared at her with wide, shock-stricken eyes. And then, without warning, he bolted toward her and clasped his hands tightly around her upper arms, and begun shaking her roughly.

"Are you crying, Akito-sama?" Etsu questioned, appalled.

"Orii-chan, you're not going to leave me!" He cried. "You won't break our bond! I won't allow it!"

She stared at him as he released her arms, the flesh paled from his grip.

_Just a crying girl—that's what I knew 'he' was. And if I could avoid it—I would never break our bond._

She sat with her knees rest against her chest, arms wrapped around her legs as though she were afraid that they would run away. Her hair was rib-length and unkempt, flyaway hairs located on nearly the entire upper part of the hair. It was a dark shade of gray, the kind that is most commonly mistaken for black, and brown flecked. Her copper eyes were dull and lifeless as they stared out the window at the cherry blossoms that floated down from the trees in the courtyard. Her frame was frighteningly thin, bones clearly visible. A white, linen sheet was draped over her shoulders yet she still trembled with cold due to the low amount of body fat. The gossiping women conversed outside the door.

"Etsu Sohma, year of the wolf?"

"I never knew about her."

"The girl's stopped eating—she won't touch a morsel."

"That's quite an unhealthy way to live."

A snicker. "If she lives much longer—she's all skin and bone."

"But what about Natsumi-san?"

"She's oblivious to Etsu's episode."

"But isn't Etsu her daughter?"

"Yes, they're saying she is. Poor woman, Natsumi is. Imagine—a child cursed with the wolf. That makes the cat look like nothing."

"And how old is the girl?"

"Fourteen. She's fourteen."

"A rebellious stage."

Etsu gave a shudder and huddled closer to her knees, drawing the sheet further over her shoulders and burying her face in her knees yet feeling no comfort in ice cold flesh. She tucked her fingers underneath the joint in her legs, seeking warmth yet drawing a complete blank.

A sixteen-year-old Akito stepped through the door and up to the wooden chair she sat in, rapping her fingertips over the back of the chair absentmindedly. Akito smiled cruelly down at Etsu. "Are you dying, Orii?" She asked with a skeptical smile and disapproving air.

Etsu merely continued to stare out the window.

_I only wish, Akito-sama._

_There is more to the world than a blank canvas. I know that, now._

Present:

Etsu took in a shaky breath, one hand placed on the door of the student council room. She nervously shifted around in her newly bought school uniform (it had taken a while to get one) and pushed her waist-length hair over her shoulders.

_Even if it means doing things—like Student Council—that I never thought I'd do, I'm going to change. I can't be Melancholic Orii-chan forever._

She exhaled slowly and pushed open the door. The inhabitants of the room—which was about three people—turned around and set their stares on her.

"Oh…um…hi." She squeaked nervously, voice slightly higher than usual. "I'm Etsu Sohma."

She then noticed the boy asleep in a chair near to her. She turned around and stared at him, rather confused. His hair was black and hanging slightly in his eyes in a rather unkempt manner. And then his eyes flew open.

"AAH!" He screamed.

"AAH!" Etsu screamed, as well, startled.

"AAH!"

"Shut up already!" Etsu barked.

"Etsu-san?"

She whirled around and locked gazes with Yuki. He wore the uniform and the Student Council armband. He cocked his head to the side, puzzled. "Do you need something, Etsu-san?"

She glared at him momentarily before a bright red flush took over her face and she glowered down at the floor, clenching her fists tightly. "I wanted…to join…if it's not too late."

"Somebody's got the hots for Yun-yun." The boy in the chair muttered.

"I do not!" "She does not!" Yuki and Etsu hissed in unison.

He smirked, then jumped up and jabbed his thumb into his chest. "Manabe Kakeru!" He cried. "And I AM BLACK!"

Etsu blinked. "Black?"

Yuki smacked his forehead exasperatedly.

"It's my color." Kakeru told her smugly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Yun-yun is president, so he's red—although I must admit that pink would be more fitting…"

Etsu stared at Yuki for a moment, then nodded at Kakeru. "Definitely pink."

Yuki growled something inaudible under his breath.

Etsu suddenly jabbed her own thumb into her chest. "Well, then I'm silver!" She cried triumphantly. "_That's_ my color!"

Kakeru nodded rhythmically.

"So…am I in?" Etsu asked, rocking back and forth on her heels.

"There is always room for one more on the _Campus Defense Force_." Kakeru responded seriously.

Yuki groaned. "Please stop saying that with a straight face."

Etsu smiled and laughed quietly in a way that would attract the attention of anyone within a ten-mile-radius. But not in a bad way, in a way that made even the overly pretty girl with black hair and light eyes in the back of the room turn around and stare. Etsu Sohma, the hard-shelled wolf, was smiling in a way that would break a supermodel's heart.

"Looks like Yun-Yun's got the hots for Etsu-kun, too…" Kakeru muttered. "Take it easy guys, this isn't Ouran High School Host Club."

Etsu's heart pounded somewhere in her throat as a red flush captured her face once more. "Shut up!" She ordered fiercely.

-That night-

Etsu sat on her bed, arms wrapped around her knees, staring out at the scenery below her window. She no hoodie, instead a pair of black shorts over black and white pinstriped leggings and a black tank top printed with a black and white cityscape. She sighed passively and fell onto her back.

_What is wrong with me?_

Yuki's picture was positively stained into her thoughts. And that smile in the Student Council room—what had that been about?

_Well, he's a year younger than me, anyways, so I guess that should put a stop to this._ She yelled out a profanity and brought her fist down on the table next to the bed, slinging her right arm (Etsu is left-handed) over her eyes and gritting her teeth angrily.

"Etsu-kun?" A small, juvenile voice asked. She jolted to a sitting position and hurriedly pulled up the rather low-cut tank top. Anger crossed over her face, brows furrowing in frustration.

"What do you want?" She called to the door, crossing her arms over her chest and glowering at her knees.

The door opened to reveal her younger sister, Kaori. Her pale blue eyes were widened slightly in confusion, twelve-year-old frame held with near-perfect posture. Her hair was cut in a similar way to Kisa's; long, shoulder length locks to the left and right sides of her bangs, eye-length in the center part of her bangs, and the rest of her hair jaw-length. It was a golden blonde color. She wore a white, knee-length, flow-y dress with baby doll sleeves and a rectangular, lacey opening for the head. (Sorry for that, I totally forgot what that part of a shirt is called…)

"Are you alright, Etsu-kun?"

"I'm fine." Etsu growled.

"I heard you yelling…" Kaori pointed out. "Then there was a sort of 'bang.'"

Etsu held back the urge to throw something. "I tripped and fell on my face—because I'm clumsy." She added as Kaori opened her mouth.

Kaori frowned. "Well, are you hurt?"

"No." Etsu glared daggers at her. "Now get out of my room."

"Okaa-san wants you to come and be sociable." Kaori rolled her eyes on the last word. "And Dad is visiting."

Etsu gave an irritated grunt and lifted herself from the bed, throwing on an oversize, plain black hoodie and trudging downstairs.

"Well, I see you're dressing as slutty as ever." Her father, Satsuya gave a perverted smile as he saw her descent the stairs. Etsu clutched her jacket closer to her chest and pulled her hoodie down lower as she noticed his traveling eyes.

Natsumi was sitting on a suede couch in the corner with the latest edition of a highly popular fashion magazine, one hand in front of the small desktop fan in order to dry her nail polish. She didn't cast a glance in Etsu's direction.

"It's been a long time." Satsuya greeted, holding his arms out wide. "We should _celebrate_."

Her eyes widened, and she hurriedly scuttled backward. "N-no."

He continued to smile sadistically. "No? That hurts me deeply, Etsu-chan."

She twitched involuntarily. "I will not."

Her father's hand caught her by the wrist. If looks would kill, Etsu would be a pile of bones twenty feet underground. She attempted to squirm out of his strong grasp, but to no avail. He drug her forcefully into the room that was once his, oblivious to her shouted protests.

He threw her down onto the bed and moved to stand at the foot of it, cracking his knuckles.

"Dad, _please don't_…"

"Call me by my name, you little whore."

"I refuse!"

He held her arms behind her head with one hand and used the other to snatch at her clothes, unzipping her hoodie quickly and slipping off her tank top. She gave a loud screech of, "NO!" And threw her legs up, successfully kicking him in the ribs. He staggered backward, breath knocked out of him. She tore her clothes off of the bed and ran from the house.

The air was cold from the approaching winter, yet she couldn't stop running until she found a lit, crowded street; Ignoring the fact that she was a seventeen-year-old high school third year walking hurriedly down the street at 11 PM in a black bra and shorts, shirt and jacket tucked under one arm and shoes hanging by the laces in the other hand. She quickly pulled her tank top back over her chest and threw on her jacket, not bothering to zip it properly, rushing herself as she pulled on her shoes, also not caring to tie them.

She looked up to see a tall building, one she recognized of being managed by Momiji Sohma's father. And outside, leaning on the railing was…**_Oh, no._**

Etsu found herself feeling very lightheaded and dizzy. She watched as the town scenery faded back and forth, spinning as it did so. She gave a small groan and fell to her knees. The small sound at the back of her throat was enough to catch Yuki's attention. He glanced over in her direction, then gave a hardly audible gasp and rushed to crouch beside her. And as he did, all hell broke loose. There was an immense puff of pitch-black smoke, and the next moment a thin, gray-black, brown-flecked wolf lay unconscious on the sidewalk.

The watch that she had been wearing read 11:11 PM.

* * *

A/N:

Information:

- Etsu is a third year. I meant to edit the first chapter to say that, but I've been too busy with this one...

- She has a crush on Yun-Yun. :3

- I've been reading other fanfictions, and I've seen one where there is a Zodiac Owl, one with a Wolf, and one with a Fox. They came out mmoonntthhss before I even got the idea to write this. So if you're wondering (or accusing), no, I didn't copy those. I actually spent forever trying to think of the other two. The Wolf was one I had planned on writing about a while ago...


	5. The Past

A/N: And now back to the future Mrs. Yun-Yun Sohma.

Etsu: HEY! You're the one writing this!

Malicious Words and Happiness: Hehe!

Etsu: Don't you "Hehe" me! I'll crush your skull!

Malicious Words and Happiness: Meep. My character is scaring me… hides behind Yun-Yun hiss Read the disclaimer, Yun-Yun!

"Yun-Yun": …your pen name is too long.

MWAH: Read the warning, Etsu-kun.

Etsu: Warnings – definite gore description. If you're a very visual or easily sickened person, proceed with caution.

* * *

Etsu awoke slowly to the sound of voices conversing in whatever room she was in. Her head was throbbing and her throat was dry. She felt their eyes on her as she stirred, slinging an arm lazily over her eyes to block out the light that was visible even through her eyelids.

"She's waking up!" A hushed, excited voice chirped.

_Tohru, that was definitely Tohru._

"Shut up, Okama." Another voice hissed.

"You damn—!" Someone threatened.

"No, Kyo, it's okay!" Tohru assured him frantically.

"Both of you shut up!" The second person ordered. "Now don't speak or I'll wire your mouths shut."

A hand touched her shoulder in a parental way, and she flew to a sitting position, eyes opened wide and glowing scarlet. Her fingers flexed and froze into an about-to-claw-something position and she shook her other fist at Tohru and Kyo who sat, bewildered, at the foot of the mattress she had been lying on. "Who the hell just—what?" She hesitated, looking around the room. "Where am I?"

"You're in my room." Kyo told her sourly.

"AND JUST WHY AM I IN YOUR ROOM?" Etsu demanded. "You are disgusting!" She pointed threateningly at him. "Hentai! _Hentai!_"

"Oh yeah?" Kyo shouted back. "Well at least somebody around here had the decency to bring your ungrateful ass back here—as a wolf!"

"And I'd thank them if I knew who it was that did it!" Etsu shrieked, and started to stand up. A firm hand caught her shoulder and pushed her back down. She blinked and looked over to see Yuki sitting on the right side of her bed. She gave Kyo a final death glare before dropping her tone and volume to a calm measure. "So exactly why am I here?"

"Because you passed out, baka…" Kyo muttered.

She glared at him. "I mean why am I in your…room?" Her voice trailed off as she looked down. Her chest was wrapped in a few layers of gauze, otherwise bare. She felt her face grow hot, and she pulled the sheet over her shoulders insecurely upon realizing that she wore only the pair of black shorts from the night before. She cleared her throat, face growing scarlet. "So who brought me here?" She looked over at Yuki hopefully.

"You're looking for _him_." Kyo pointed to the seemingly vacant left side of the mattress. She gazed over to see Ichigo sitting with his legs folded under him, fists whitening over his knees and head lowered. He'd been silent since she awoke.

"Ichigo?" She asked, confused. He looked up and then glared at the wall.

"Yeah." He muttered. "Okama and 'Yun-Yun' saw you pass out." He looked up at her like a child that knows it's done wrong. "So _I_ brought you back here."

Tohru clasped her hands together and brought it to the base of her throat, smiling. _Ichigo really is very nice. Underneath that temper, is a totally different side to him._

Etsu crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at him. "I didn't see you."

Ichigo scowled. "I'll show you, if you want."

Tohru blinked, confused. "What do you mean 'show her'?"

"Ichigo has an ability similar to Hatori's memory erasing. He can show people past and future events just by touching them." Yuki explained.

_I've just made another new discovery about the Sohmas! _Tohru thought excitedly.

"Stalker…" Ichigo muttered sourly. "Okama!"

Tohru jumped, startled. "Y-yes?"

"_Don't_ touch me." Ichigo ordered. "Because now that you know that…" his tone grew dark and serious. "…I could show you horrible, horrible things on accident."

Tohru's eyes widened. "What kind of…things?"

"You don't want to know."

Etsu punched him on the shoulder. "Shut up, Ichigo-chan. You're scaring her to hell."

"Yeah? Well I'm just telling her the honest-to-God truth! Want me to go show her now? I'll do it if you want me to!" Ichigo shouted.

"Don't show her anything!" Etsu's tone grew terrifyingly furious, in that way that makes someone such as you or I want to go and jump out a third story window just to get away from it. Ichigo's pupils went to slits, and he buried his face in his hands.

"Ichigo-san?" Tohru asked, concerned. "Is there something wrong? It's okay—you don't have to show me anything!"

Ichigo looked up slowly, a cloud of deep purple smoke flaring around him in a sinister way as his cyan eyes switched to a furious red. Tohru took a step back and Ichigo continued to give the death glare of all death glares, one that would put Etsu to shame. "I'm not showing you _anything_." The second year hissed darkly. "I hate you. I hate you—really despise you. Get that through your thick skull, baka."

"Kaiju!" Etsu stood up rapidly, forgetting about her being half-nude. Tohru called out Etsu's name in a vain attempt to get her to lie down again. Her eyes rolled from dizziness.

Ichigo froze. If for some odd reason a doctor came in and listened to his heart for that one long second with a stethoscope, they would hear absolutely nothing. His pupils dilated and his eyes widened. He clutched at either of his arms tightly. Etsu gasped loudly and her hands flew to her mouth in mortification. Kyo stood, silently bewildered, and Yuki held nearly the same stance yet sitting down. Tohru crouched down beside him. Slowly, thoughtlessly, stupidly, and parentally, she rest a hand on his shoulder.

"Honda-san!" Yuki warned, eyes widening.

Tohru's reality shifted to something entirely unfamiliar.

Past:

The agonized screams of someone's young voice rang out in the kitchen. There was a woman leaning nonchalantly on the counter and reading a newspaper, her dark hair pushed over her shoulders and brown eyes scanning over the newsprint.

"Naomi!" A man shouted, struggling with something in a kitchen chair that he stood over. A young boy became visible as the man turned around to summon the woman once more. His hair was ear-length and two toned, white and black. It was white on the right side and black on the left.

"NAOMI!"

The woman looked up serenely and smiled. "Yes, Saiki?"

"Go find me some rope!"

The boy screamed again, growing more hoarse with each one. His arms were raw and covered in tiny cuts. Naomi shrugged and calmly walked out of the kitchen, returning with a coil of rope in her hands. She laughed wickedly as Saiki took the rope and pressed a hand against the boy's chest, pinning him down, as he writhed and tried to escape from the chair.

"OKAA-SAN!" The boy cried desperately.

Naomi continued to laugh. "Kaiju—we do this because of what you did to us!"

"Okaa-san!"

Naomi strolled over and slapped him across the face. He struggled in vain against the rope that tied his wrists to the arms of the chair, legs already bound. Naomi reached for a porcelain plate nearby. "We do this because you cause us worse pain as being an Outsider of the Zodiac! If you were born as the rat, we wouldn't have this problem!"

Crash.

_It went on that way for years._

-Two years later-

The boy stood before the class, hands clasped behind his back.

"Tell us your name, Sohma-kun." The teacher whispered with a smile.

"Kaiju." He told the class. The children snickered and laughed loudly.

"Sohma-kun is a monster!"

"Sohma-kun is a strange beast!"

_But, I couldn't live like that._

-Eight years old-

'Kaiju' stared down at his hands. They held two large kitchen knives, and still bore the scars, bruises, and gashes that he had become accustomed to seeing. The clock read 12:04 AM. He slowly and quietly made his way into Saiki and Naomi's room. The sound of slow, steady breathing and the clock ticking was the only sound in the room. He crept up to Saiki's side of the bed, raised the knife and—

A loud scream pierced the night, followed by muffled choking sounds and smaller attempts at screaming. Naomi jumped awake, startled, and stared into the fiery eyes of her son. She screamed loudly as her gaze traveled and she set sight on the dead body of her husband, blood staining the sheets, and the knife still in her son's hand.

"KAIJU!" Naomi screamed.

"Okaa-san," He whispered. "I'm doing this because of what you did to me."

Saiki and Naomi Sohma were found dead the following morning; throats slit and with the knife stuck into their stomachs.

-Two weeks later, day after the funeral-

Kazuma held his eyes open to the young, orange-haired boy that waited expectantly with his own outstretched. Kaiju hesitated, pushing his long, two-toned hair out of his eyes as he shifted his standing position awkwardly. He stole a glance over his shoulder only to see that the social worker had been driven away. After one long moment, Kaiju gripped the straps of his blue backpack more tightly, and approached Kazuma confidently.

Kazuma set the now-scowling boy down and looked Kaiju over before speaking. "Did Naomi send you?"

Kaiju's eyes widened. "I'm here because she's—" He froze, choking over his own words. "—because she's dead."

While the other boy rolled his eyes, Kazuma's face took on a sympathetic expression. "And what is your name?"

"Kai—" He hesitated, thinking. "Ichigo." He answered finally. "Ichigo Sohma."

"GET OUT!" Someone screamed. Tohru jolted back to the reality, which she had been in before she touched Ichigo's shoulder. She found herself slumped against the wall, a dull pain in the back of her head.

"I didn't believe them when they spoke of you so highly," Ichigo hissed. "I knew that having an intruder in this damned house was a bad idea. That's crossing the line, Honda."

"Ichigo-san, she was trying to help!" Etsu growled in defense.

"Get out." Ichigo ordered darkly.

Tohru only stared up at him, bewildered.

"I SAID GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Ichigo roared. Tohru stood up quickly and hurried out of the room. Yuki and Kyo ran out after her.

"Ichigo…" Etsu murmured, eyeing him with a somehow sad expression.

"Leave me alone." Ichigo hissed. He stomped out the door, slamming it shut behind him. He fled from the house and into the forest, stumbling often and finally stopping at the edge of a small lake. He saw something from the corner of his eye, and stopped to inspect it. It was a rock—but not an average one. It had four long, deep claw marks on it. Ichigo gave a small gasp and fell to his knees.

Past:

"Ichigo-san?"

He looked up quickly to see a nine-year-old girl—about his age—standing before him. Her hair was long and pure white and she bore light brown eyes. She wore an emerald, knee-length dress and the same color for her shoes. She smiled slightly. "I heard that you're the fox."

He nodded shortly and went back to doodling idly in the dirt.

"Want to play?"

His eyes widened, and he looked up at the girl again. "You want to play…with me?"

"Of course!" She took his arm with a grip that seemed impossible for a little girl in a lacey dress. "I'm Kyoumi Sohma!" And with that, she attempted to drag him away by the arm.

"But—ugh—my—eh—Ririko-sama told me not to go off with people I don't—eh—know!"

_Ririko was my social worker. Kyoumi never asked about her. Ririko knew about the curse, she lived on the Inside. Yet, she felt more like a mother to me than Naomi ever did._

"She won't be mad!" Kyoumi cried. "I'm like you—exactly like you! I'm in the zodiac—the second fox!"

Rumors of the fabled Second Fox flew all over the Sohma estate. I didn't believe any of them until I met her. She didn't care about my true form—it was the same as hers. I only gave her one reason to fear me—and it was when she found out.

"Ichigo-san, are you a girl?" Kyoumi asked randomly.

Ichigo stared at her incredulously. "No."

"But Ichigo is a girl name."

"So what if that's not my name?" Ichigo asked defensively.

"People are saying you used to call yourself Kaiju. Why is that?"

"Kaiju is what Okaa-san called me." He droned.

Kyoumi frowned. "That's mean. Do you live with her, still?"

"No. Okaa-san is dead."

Kyoumi gasped. "Oh, gomenasai! How did she die?"

"I killed her."

_I killed her._

Kyoumi's eyes grew wide and her pupils dilated considerably. She stammered gibberish a few times before she began breathing heavily, and ran from the room.

_I hated myself for telling her._

"Ririko-sama?"

Ririko was a petite, thin woman with shoulder-length tumbleweed hair, gray eyes, and a pretty face. She blinked and looked down at the ten-year-old boy that stood before her. "What is it, Ichigo-chan?"

"Why do I only hurt people?"

She stared awkwardly at him for a second before crouching down, bringing her eyes level with his. "Where did you hear that?"

"I know it." He told her stubbornly.

"Well, then it's not true."

_I didn't want Kyoumi to leave me—she understood everything about being an outsider, as the Second Fox. But still, even if she did understand—_

He visualized Kyoumi running away from him, shocked and horrified.

_—I was afraid._

_And in the end, even the woman I'd come to know as my mother left me._

Ichigo, now ten years old, stood by the casket, a bouquet gripped tightly in his shaking hands. He set the flowers down on the closed lid and let out a shaky breath.

"Ririko Sohma…" Someone muttered.

"She was the first fox's mother, I heard."

"No, no. Ichigo killed his mother—the savage."

"I suppose she was close enough to him to be his mother, though."

"But she secretly hated him."

"It was suicide."

_It was suicide._

_I killed her._

A twelve-year-old Ichigo stared at himself in the mirror. His roots were…cinnamon colored…and the rest of his hair was slightly faded into the color, as well. He frowned at his reflection and stormed out of the room.

_They dyed my hair so as to hide the fact that I'm the First Fox._

As he left the house without a clue where he was going, a familiar voice called out his name. He turned to see Kyoumi in a deep crimson dress, lacking the lace from when he'd last remembered her outfits.

_She struck me, then, as beautiful. She wasn't pretty, as I'd remembered her, anymore. Something more._

He scowled at her. "You've hardly spoken to me in three years."

She sighed, and took his left hand in both of hers. "But it's okay, now. I know it wasn't your fault."

"It was my fault!" He shouted, trying—and succeeding—at shaking her off. She bit her lower lip and looked down at her feet.

"But I realized something." She murmured.

He glared at her. "What?"

"Since we're both the Fox, we have to be together." She explained, closing her eyes peacefully. "We're the same, like twins almost. So we have to try."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "Try what?"

"Ichigo-san!" Kyoumi scolded. "I love you."

_I love you._

His eyes widened, and he unexpectedly pulled her into an embrace. Kyoumi gave a small gasp of surprise, and looked up at him with a confused expression.

"So we've really been together our whole lives—somehow." Kyoumi grunted against Ichigo's grasp. "Can we be Together for at least a week?"

_One week turned into three years._

"Ichigo-san?" A fifteen-year-old Kyoumi asked crossing her thin legs in the chair she sat in. She wore a frame-fitting black dress with a slightly puffy skirt due to the layers of white netting underneath.

Ichigo, hair now fully the cinnamon color, looked over at her. "Yeah?"

Kyoumi bit her lip and looked down. "Well…I was wondering if I could know…your real name."

He frowned and stood up, moving to lean on the back of the chair. "My real name?"

"You told me, when we were younger, that Ichigo isn't your real name."

He laughed. "It's not. 'Ichigo' was my favorite food at the time."

It was Kyoumi's turn to frown. "Then…what's your real name?"

"Hiro Sohma."

"Are you sure?"

Ichigo—or rather, Hiro—laughed. "I'm positive."

_But all good things come to an end, wilt, or die._

Akito's rage increased rapidly as he began throwing everything in reach in Ichigo's direction. "GET OUT OF HERE! NEVER COME BACK TO THE SOHMA ESTATE AGAIN! GET OUT NOW!"

"I'd be glad to leave!" Ichigo yelled angrily.

"**GET OUT!"**

Present:

Hiro opened his eyes slowly to find that a light rain had begun to fall. Cursing himself mentally, he stood slowly and made his way back to Shigure's house.

"And where the hell were you?" Kyo demanded as Hiro stepped through the door, leaving his shoes on the inside.

"Out." Hiro replied simply, and preceded to make his way to the kitchen, where the telephone was.

"Don't give me 'out'!" Kyo spat. "Tohru was so damn worried over you I thought she was gonna burst!"

Hiro shrugged and dialed the number. "Nn." He muttered nonchalantly.

"And who the hell are you calling?"

Hiro looked over, smiled evilly and said one word. _"Kyoumi."_


	6. The Zoo

A/N: Okay, okay. I can't call Hiro…Hiro. I have to call him Ichigo. Ichigo just isn't fit with any other name. Actually, I thought of the name before the character. So it'd be an abomination to call him by something else. Ha.

Kyoumi is just crazy-cute, and I think she and Ichigo (see? I can't help myself) make an adorable couple. The last chapter was rather sad, so lo and behold—a fun chapter to make up for it. Gomenasai for such a long wait!

Also, I have no bloody idea what island Fruits Basket takes place on. Since their class trip was to Kyoto and Nara, I'm guessing it is Shikoku. So don't kill me if that's wrong…

* * *

The door burst open with a loud bang to reveal Etsu smiling euphorically and brandishing her cell phone, hip-length hair swinging as she did so.

"GUESS WHO ISN'T SINGLE!"

Tohru jumped yet again, still in the aftershock of being startled from the very loud opening of the door. In record-breaking time she was hovering around Etsu, a similar smile plastered on her joyous face as she continued to repeatedly praise Etsu for finding "a hopefully long-lasting relationship."

"Etsu-san…" Yuki sweat dropped.

Etsu broke out into another grin that would put Haruhi Suzumiya to shame and pumped her fist in the air, long black trench coat swinging in the sudden movement, placing her legs at a spread position despite the black leather mini skirt she was wearing with black and white checker tights and a cleavage-bearing black shirt that bore the emblem of an American band called "My Chemical Romance."

"What, are you jealous, Yun-Yun?" She demanded eagerly.

"Ano…Etsu-kun?" Tohru piped up. "Who is your _someone_?"

"Don't get her started." Kyo rolled his eyes, already annoyed.

"You really want to know?" Etsu asked excitedly. "Well, he's a boy, of course. And he's REALLY nice—and dreamy…" Her voice trailed off, metamorphic hearts "replacing" her eyes.

Tohru laughed. "That doesn't sound like Etsu-kun!"

Etsu snapped back to reality. "His name is Reiji—and he's not a Sohma, either!"

"What about the curse?"

Etsu looked over at Yuki slowly, arms falling limp to her sides and chatter ending altogether. She cocked her head to the side in apparent confusion, brows furrowing as she mumbled a "huh?" and mouthed the word "what?"

"You forgot about the curse?" Kyo asked in disbelief. He set his chopsticks down. "You really are an idiot."

"I DIDN'T FORGET!" Etsu shouted, blushing furiously. "Damn it. This sucks." She groaned.

"Etsu-kun…?" Tohru asked slowly. Etsu crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the wall. "Etsu-kun? Is there something wrong?" Tohru's voice was beginning to raise, a usual sign of panic.

"I…never mind." Etsu mumbled. "It doesn't really matter."

"Oh…" Tohru whispered, taking on a sympathetic expression and biting her lower lip. "O-okay."

"Hey, where's Ichigo-san?" Etsu asked randomly, looking around the room as though he were hiding under the table or behind the television.

"I think he's still sleeping." Tohru smiled. "I really should wake him up—he can't sleep all day!"

"Tohru…" Etsu smacked her forehead, shaking her head slowly.

Tohru turned on her heel and pranced out of the room, smiling as she did so and brunette hair fanning out at the movement

"Will she ever learn?" Etsu asked hopelessly.

"_No."_ Kyo huffed moodily.

Yuki shook his head slowly and sighed. "So now I guess we just wait."

"It shouldn't take very long." Etsu studied her watch. "Three…two…one…"

"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM!"

"Oh, I'm sorry Ichigo-san it's just that you couldn't sleep all day! Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"GOD! I'M NOT EVEN DRESSED! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?"

"_Eh?_ No! I didn't mean to—honestly I didn't—!"

"_**OUT!"**_

A few seconds later, Tohru raced back into the room frantically, multiple sweat drops and a bright red flush of embarrassment to the face. The sound of Ichigo's furious, pounding footsteps on the stairs sounded momentarily, revealing the sour face of the teenager. His hair was unkempt, bright cyan eyes seemingly flickering with fire.

"Someone was busy with Kyoumi-chan last night." Shigure muttered, popping out of nowhere, a mischievous smile on his face.

"I WAS NOT!"

"My, my!" Shigure dramatically exclaimed. "Now you've gone into denial! Etsu-kun, please call Hatori if you would—I'm afraid his brain damage has gotten out of control!"

"I SWEAR TO GOD!" Ichigo shouted. His eyes grew a haunted look, the all-famous vortex returning as he shot a fearful look to the stairs. "Don't wake the sleeping beast!"

"I know—I'll go wake Kyoumi-chan! I'm sure she wouldn't want to miss out." Shigure suggested.

"God, I _hate_ you!" Ichigo half-groaned, half-shouted.

"You sure have been moody this week." Shigure pointed out. A noticeable flush captured Ichigo's face.

"Whatever. Leave me alone." He growled, and dashed back upstairs. The slamming of a door sounded soon after.

Shigure shimmied out of the room, snickering quietly to himself as he did so, a wicked aura of accomplishment settling over him. Tohru's eyes followed him, confused slightly. A thick silence settled over the room.

"That was random." Etsu muttered.

"Ano…Etsu-kun?" Tohru questioned. Etsu's gaze traveled over to the braid-clad brunette.

"Yeah?"

"What did Etsu-kun want to see Ichigo-san for, anyway?" Tohru asked shyly, as though Etsu would be mortally offended by her inquiry.

"Mm." Etsu hummed, slouching against the wall and crossing her arms over her chest. Her eyes flicked open and a devilish smile spread over her face as she held up a single finger—"Tsk!" she hissed, a noise with her tongue—and gazed upward, closing her eyes again and grinning. "I heard a rumor," she whispered, as though this were valuable information. "That Kyoumi-chan was here—with him."

"And?" Kyo pressed, left hand supporting his semi-tan face in a bored manner as he slumped casually on the table, elbows kneading into the wooden surface. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Because—!" Etsu shouted, tearing away from the doorframe to slam both hands onto the table, leaning across the table and grinning from ear to ear. "Kyoumi-chan has been _ecstatic_ about visiting all week! And you know what that means?"

"She'll destroy the house." Kyo stated monotonously. A loud, over dramatized gasp was audible from Shigure's office.

"_It means that Ichigo-kun is about to get the hell beaten out of him!"_ Etsu cackled wildly.

"Oh no!" Tohru exclaimed. "That's horrible!"

"Ah, lighten up, Tohru-chan." Etsu teased.

There came the sound of pounding footsteps on the stairs, and a mere moment later Kyoumi came into view, grinning happily and clutching the arm of an unwilling Ichigo, who trailed behind.

"I have an idea!" She announced, throwing her right arm (and Ichigo's, with it) into the air and smiling from ear to ear.

"Hai, Kyoumi-chan?" Etsu asked.

"Let's go to the zoo!" Kyoumi cheered.

"Etto…" Yuki muttered.

"Are you out of your mind?" Kyo demanded.

"Only slightly, Kyon-cchi!" Kyoumi chirped.

"That sounds like a lot of fun!" Tohru agreed, suddenly in front of Kyoumi with a similar grin.

"The curse!" Kyo reminded them.

"We could see all the animals!" Kyoumi's eyes were wide in excitement.

"And it's a _perfect_ day for it!" Tohru held an identical expression.

"There is no way in hell I'm being dragged to a zoo!" Kyo shouted.

- One-hour later-

The large, wooden sign that read "Zoo of Shikoku" loomed over the walkway that was crowded with civilians. Tohru and Kyoumi had a quicker, more excited pace than the others, laughing and joking along the way. Kyoumi's yellow sundress blew slightly in the wind, white hair pushing in her face gently.

Etsu sighed passively and rest her arm on Sora's shoulder, despite the fact that he was taller than her and it looked rather strange. He said nothing, as obvious, and stared ahead at the laughing girls that were now skipping to the entrance booths.

"This is going to be hell." Etsu muttered. Sora nodded simply.

Etsu fished around in her hoodie pocket, retrieving a black iPod nano. She offered an ear bud to Sora. "Music soothes the savage beast." She told him with a grin. He sighed silently.

"Fine, fine." Etsu proceeded to search through her play lists.

"Hey, nice girlfriend." A passing teenager commented with a perverted smile, eyes traveling to Etsu's chest.

Etsu rolled her eyes, and then grinned evilly and stuck up her middle finger, laughing manically.

Sora's lips pressed into a firm line and he shot an angry look at Etsu, catching her hand and forcing it down. He flipped to a blank page of the notepad he carried, jotting down a note and handing it to Etsu once he finished.

"There are little kids around. Try to tone it down."

"Sora-san, Etsu-kun!" Tohru called. Etsu and Sora both blinked and looked up in unison, realizing that the rest of the group was already getting their entrance tickets at the booth.

"Come on, Sora-kun!" Etsu laughed, pulling him along to catch up.

--

"Daijoubu, Kyoumi-chan," Tohru traced a path on the map of the zoo with her index finger. "Which animals do we want to see first?"

"As long as it's not cats, rats, foxes, owls, or wolves, I'm fine." Etsu piped up. The others, excluding Kyoumi and Tohru, nodded.

"I want to see the desert exhibit!" Kyoumi exclaimed, starry-eyed. To which, Tohru nodded rapidly with an uncannily similar expression.

-

"I think it's dead." Etsu muttered to Sora, who merely nodded at the lizard in the exhibit. The air was cool and conditioned, despite the desert atmosphere that had been created by wall murals and various artifacts.

"Wake it up, Ichigo-kun!" Kyoumi whined childishly.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" Ichigo demanded, turning the heads of everyone within a six-foot radius and earning a rather nasty collection of glares from mothers with young children. "I don't control the damn thing's sleep, you know!"

Etsu nudged Sora with her elbow. "Tell him to tone it town, Sora-cchi!"

His eyebrow twitched at the suffix, and he simply shrugged with a stoic statute similar to Mori from Ouran High School Host Club. (The author laughed maniacally at her lame joke made at 2:30 in the morning.)

"Are we gonna stare at a dead lizard the whole time or what?" Kyo growled.

"Ah!" Tohru exclaimed, panic settling in. "K-Kyo! It's not dead!"

Yuki closed his eyes and sighed exasperatedly.

"Arctic Tundra!" Kyoumi suddenly shouted. "RACE!" With that, she grabbed Ichigo by the wrist and, before he could realize what was going on, sped out of the building with a rather inhuman speed.

"You want to go?" Etsu shouted at the still-swinging double doors, a fire of ambition blazing in her eyes. She turned to Sora, took him by the wrist as well, and all but disappeared out the doors in the blink of an eye.

-

"We won!" Etsu congratulated herself and Sora—but mostly she—as they leaned against the wall next to the entrance doors of the arctic tundra exhibit building, waiting for the others to catch up.

Sora nodded.

"There you are!" Tohru called, running towards them with Yuki and Kyo arguing behind her. "Where are Kyoumi-chan and Ichigo-kun?"

"Beats me." Etsu shrugged.

"Aw, Ichigo-kun!" Kyoumi's voice whined. "Why not?"

Etsu blinked and looked in the direction of the voice as two figures, silhouetted by the painted-black glass of the door, grew closer, one of them with the frame of a teenage boy and the other of a girl.

"Because I said so, damn it!"

"We…came…second?" Etsu asked in horror. Sora nodded passively.

The door swung open to reveal Ichigo and Kyoumi, Kyoumi flailing her arms wildly and whining in a manner similar to a child.

"How the hell were you here before us?" Etsu demanded, jabbing her index finger into Ichigo's chest. Kyoumi continued to whine something about "adorable, kawaii-desu" and was hovering over Ichigo's shoulder annoyingly.

"Doesn't matter, anyway." Ichigo spat. "Kyoumi-baka forgot about _arctic foxes_."

"But they were so adorable!" Kyoumi whined. "With their fluffy white fur and the way they were pressing their little noses up to the glass to say, 'Hello, Kyoumi-chan'!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ichigo demanded of the starry-eyed, white-haired girl beside him.

"_I just wanna take them home!"_ Kyoumi cried in adoration.

"NO!" Ichigo shouted angrily.

"You're no fun, Ichigo-chan." Kyoumi pouted.

Sora rolled his eyes and freed his arm from the death grip that Etsu had on it, strode over to Kyoumi calmly, and opened the door to the exhibit. Ignoring the group's stares that had been set on him, he placed his hands on her shoulders, spun her around, and pushed her into the room, thus shutting the door firmly behind her.

"Problem solved." Etsu muttered.

Sora sighed silently and with a rather wary expression.

--

"And we're finally leaving." Kyo hissed.

Tohru and Kyoumi were excitedly recapping the days' "adventures" and hinting that they would love to return. Etsu had her arm back on Sora's shoulder, text messaging the all-famous Reiji with one hand. Ichigo and Kyo were in front of everyone, occasionally hesitating to glare pointedly at the other and give an unflattering comment.

"It's going to rain," Etsu pointed out without looking up from the message she was typing.

"It's sunny, you idiot!" Kyo growled. "Do those look like rain clouds to you?"

"I didn't say right this second." Etsu replied simply.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kyo demanded.

"It's going to rain later."

"How much later?" Kyoumi asked, whining when she didn't get an answer.

-

"Say it!" Etsu cried euphorically.

"Why…should…I?" Kyo implored weakly.

"Because I was right!" Etsu pressed on. The rain was pelting down in thick, cold sheets that were chilling to the bone. Etsu and the others were sitting in the car, Etsu leaning against the driving wheel and shivering invisibly.

"That's strange," Yuki pointed out. "Just earlier it was perfectly fine. How did you know?"

"I'm a psychic."

"REALLY?" Tohru cried excitedly. "That's amazing, Etsu-kun."

"She wasn't being serious." Yuki sweat dropped.


	7. The Reminiscence

A/N: Sora-san! Aw. So this is pretty much the chapter you guys were or were not waiting for. (Ha!) Sora's past—hooray! I love me some Sora. Proceed with caution: angst lies ahead. Poor, tortured fictional character...

WARNING: INCLUDES GORE DESCRIPTION! YAY GORE!!

PS. By the way, has anyone else noticed that I accidentally write Kyo as too…motherly? OO

* * *

The rain pelted down over the main house of Sohma, a teenage boy standing silently as always by the windowsill as he watched the rain fall. He was Sora Sohma, Outsider year of the owl from the Chinese Zodiac. The empty house carried the tunes of the rain as they always had since he had been living there all his life, alone from age five to his current state of eighteen. He didn't speak; it was his way of reminding himself of how his parents had died. And the answer to that inquiry—it was suicide.

Past:

_There are things meant to be seen and things that are meant to remain unseen._

"Okaa-san?" A sleepy murmur in the dark, voice overlapped by the sound of the rain—similar to the previous days'—tapping on the glass of the window that did little to block out the moonlight that fell almost mockingly upon the landscape of the room, catching everything in its path and setting it ablaze with a milky white glow. There came the sound of bare feet on hardwood flooring, hair falling into place as he pushed it out of his lidded eyes with a weak hand. He walked slowly down the hall to his parents' room, hearing no sounds of breathing from inside as usual. Concerned, he pushed open the door.

_I walked in on a scene that no ten-year-old child should ever have to see._

His father's form was visible only as Sora raised his head and lifted his gaze to see the noose tied tightly around his neck and the foot-high area of space between his feet and the ground. His mother was lying half off of the bed, an empty bottle of prescription pills in one hand and another bottle of liquor in the other, dark hair unkempt and thrown messily over her open eyes.

In the morning he found himself holding his mother's cold, lifeless hand.

-

"Sora-chan?"

He looked up, vision edited slightly by the strands of hair from his long bangs that hung in his eyes. It had been a week since the suicide, and the night only brought nightmares of finding their bodies, holding his mother's hand…

The girl that stood before him looked to be older than him, two or three years at the most. Her hair was long, reaching down to her knees in a straight style that seemed impossible to deal with. It was a dark gray color, flecked with brown in a few spots. She was still wearing her school uniform, gazing in wonder at the boy that sat on a bench under the blooming sakura trees inside one of the many courtyards of the main Sohma estate.

"Hai?" He looked up slowly, the pink blossoms falling doing nothing to adjust the melancholy face of too-pale skin and haunted eyes.

_It's funny, I don't even remember what my voice sounds like, now._

"I heard your parents passed," She stated, gazing away sadly. "I'm…really sorry about that."

The night was flashing before his eyes: the pills, the rope, her hand, her eyes, their bodies, her face…they passed by in looped blur that was clouding his vision and only letting so much in. 'I heard your parents passed.'

_I did it._ He thought, disturbed. _It was I from the start. Because of this curse, they died. They did it to themselves. But behind it all—this is my fault._

"Sora-chan?" Etsu waved her hand in front of his face. "Why aren't you talking?"

_I did it._

_I did it._

_I did it._

_I DID IT._

He found his face on the ground, heart throbbing fast and painful somewhere in his throat as the full weight of it all began to sink in, thoughts of self-accusation cutting like a knife, the flashbacks ever continuous as the horrifying images played and replayed to the amount of impossibility. Thoughts burned holes in his vision that was closing fast as though he were viewing things from inside a tunnel.

"Sora?" Etsu cried in surprise. "Get up! What are you doing?!"

_If this will make it better, I'm willing to try._

-

"He fainted, doctor." Someone, a woman's voice, was saying. Sora slowly opened his eyes to find himself in a brightly lit, white room with around four adults looking down at him.

"You gave us quite a scare, there." One of the men told him with a smile. "Turns out, you just needed some sleep!"

_Lies._

--

E – Sora, I don't get why you keep writing me these notes.

E – And you haven't said a word in weeks.

S – I haven't said anything because I CAN'T say anything.

E – What? What is that supposed to mean?

S – It means exactly what it says.

E – So you're a mute?

S - …You could call it that.

E – And this is because of…me?

S- No, not exactly.

E – Whatever! If I hadn't said anything, you wouldn't have fainted, and we would be talking normally now instead of writing these stupid notes.

S – Is that so? Don't be so sure.

E – You know what, damn it?

E – Since I brought you into this, I'll take you out of it. Okay? I swear it.

Sora paused to look up at Etsu questioningly. She frowned down at the table stubbornly—and in a manner that made the author wonder if this girl was Haruhi Suzumiya's long lost twin. He sighed silently and resumed writing.

S – Don't blame yourself over something like this.

E – Then why aren't you speaking? Say something!

_I can't._

-

"Kojima Rena-san, you're next." Sensei instructed. A small girl at the front of the classroom stood up, light red hair swishing at the movement. She went to the whiteboard, blue eyes sweeping over the students.

"I did my report," she hesitated. "On Sohma Sora-san."

The report's object was simple—everyone was assigned a person (it was randomized, drawing names from a paper cup) to do a report on. The students had to list hobbies, habits, nicknames, things of that nature. An uncomfortable air shifted over the class.

"Sora-san is very quiet." She started. "Demo…Sora-san is a good person. You don't always have to be vocal to be kind. But," she hesitated again, eyes growing dark. "I believe that sometimes, in a very secret place, in a voice so low that he can only hear it, he says words. Just to make sure he still can."

Murmurs of agreement spread like a plague. Sora himself slumped in his seat, slightly appalled by the horribly false accusation. He was fifteen now, in middle school. Rena bowed slightly, going back to her seat and sitting down in a hurry.

_Rena is the reason no one calls me 'san.'_

"Sora-san!" Rena called, running after him. It was springtime, near the end of the semester. Her hair was a light red color, mid-neck length and straight, with bangs of the same style as Yuki's. Her eyes were a bright cerulean blue. "Man, you walk too fast." She added, panting, as se finally caught up with him. A few boys stared in jealousy, Rena being 'the prettiest girl in school' at the time.

Sora simply nodded in response.

"Yoshi, Sora-san." She laughed. "Today—you know I wasn't being serious about the last thing, ne?"

He nodded again.

"Daijoubu…" She muttered. "We're making progress, right?"

Nod.

"Don't you have any other answer?"

Nod.

"I see." She sighed. "Gomenasai."

He stopped to stare at her in mild confusion, unable to think of a reason for her sudden apology. He tore a piece of paper out of a notebook and dug a pencil out of his bag. "What for?"

"Again with the notes?" Rena smiled. "Well, you looked kind of different after I said that. Would you like to come over for…etto…tea?"

He gazed at her, bewildered, before he broke into a smile and nodded. Rena laughed happily.

"This is the first time I've ever seen you smile." She pointed out.

_And she was the last to see it, as well._

-

Rena paused in the act of handing a bag of tea to a maid. She peered into the family room. "What kind of tea do you prefer?" Upon receiving only a shrug as an answer, she bit her lip and sifted through small porcelain containers of expensive tea her considerably wealthy father had brought back from various business trips.

The Kojima estate was large; four stories of corridors and empty rooms, maids and butlers scurrying around and brilliant decorations. It was a wonder that Rena attended a public school that was the epitome of average.

_I spent months with Rena. For a bizarre, unknown reason, Etsu would always sulk in an uninhabited corner of the room whenever Rena was around. Yet, good things never last very long._

Sensei smoothed down her suit, eyes darting over the students as she called role. Sora had noticed Rena's absence, yet thought nothing of it. Rena was usually skipping school for her father's meetings that he had decided to include her in.

"Kojima Rena?"

No one spoke, well aware that Rena's absence was nothing to be made a spectacle over; she missed class often. It was just another normal day.

There came the sharp rapping of a knock on the classroom door, and Sensei strode over to open it. Another teacher, one from the counseling office, stood in the doorway, face holding a sad and slightly surprised expression. They conversed at the door shortly before Sensei beckoned hastily to Sora, who stood up and went across the room to them.

"It's about Kojima Rena." The other teacher explained as they walked down the hallway. "We're in a bit of a plight, here."

Confused, Sora stepped into the counseling office, sitting down as the teacher instructed him to. Fujioka-sensei was his name.

"Like I said, your friend Rena was found this morning," Fujioka began going through files on his desk until he found the right one, pulling out a few pictures and setting them down on the desk before Sora. "She was murdered."

Sora stared at him, eyes wide. Fujioka pushed the stack of pictures toward him. With trembling hands, he took the pictures. Yet, as soon as he'd seen the images, he began to wish that he had fled from the room.

Rena's body looked more like something out of Saw than a local murder. The body itself was inside of a small, square, glass booth in one of the many rooms of the house. The killer appeared to have been very stab-happy, multiple gashed and flecks of blood dotting the walls of the booth, interrupted by large deposits of the liquid in the shape of human hands. Her face was blue, a rope tied tightly around her neck and cutting into the flesh. Her legs were practically cut open, deep wounds trailing from her thighs to her ankles. Blood pooled out of the booth, chips of broken glass littering Rena's corpse.

"It's sad, isn't it?" Fujioka asked.

Sora stood slowly, clutching the base of his throat and fingernails digging into his skin. He tore the door open and ran out into the hallway, ignoring scolding teachers and passing students as he ran at full speed. In the courtyard of the school, he didn't bother to slow down, didn't stop running until his legs gave out and lungs demanded more oxygen. He fell to the ground, panting heavily.

A moment later, he was obscured by gray smoke, leaving behind only an unconscious eagle owl.

--

I didn't see Etsu for around a year.

He looked around at the sight of the forest, listening acutely to any sounds that might have been made. He turned a full 180-degree circle before he was positive that no one was around. Slowly, he drew a small handgun from his pocket. He stretched his right arm out, and directed the gun to the inside of his arm.

BANG.

BANG.

He watched, unsatisfied, as the wounds bled profusely. His eyes traveled to his ankles as a—rather sickening—idea came to mind.

-

Sora sat on the ground, panting silently and trying to absorb as much of the wounds as was humanely possible.

_Horrible people deserve to be punished._

It was growing hard to hold back the satisfied smile that was attempting to come forth. Instead, he opened his mouth and aimed the gun, one finger on the trigger. At that moment, Etsu's face appeared in his mind. He cursed mentally, tossing the weapon aside and glaring at the trees around him.

He was seventeen, now.

_I honestly don't know how I wound up at Shigure's house—it was like a reality lapse._

"E-Etsu-san, I don't know if we have enough time to call Hatori b-before something h-happens!" The girl stammered, hovering over Etsu's shoulder and with an expression that suggested she believed that World War III had been started rather than the Owl showing up wounded. _Tohru_, Etsu had called her.

"His arm!" Tohru exclaimed in the same horrified, deathly worried tone. "It's bleeding really badly!"

"And you think I didn't notice—don't stand that close!" Etsu hissed as her eyes glowed crimson in a rather demonic way that made Tohru jerk her outstretched hand back.

He blinked a few times. This was definitely Etsu, for you.

"And your legs!" Tohru noticed, struggling to keep her voice sounding somewhat composed. "Can you move them?"

"Sora-san?"

He froze momentarily. San—that dreaded suffix.

-

_It was truly disturbing how much Tohru cared about someone when they were wounded. There are still good people in this world—you just have to find them amongst the uncaring and indifferent eyes._

_Thank you, Honda Tohru.

* * *

_

A/N: Aw! Rena could have been so kawaii…mutters why do I always like the characters I kill off—AHEP! I said too much.

(I'm not killing off Sora…or any of the original characters…or the other outsiders.)

To those of you who reviewed: GAAAH! I LOVE YOU! I was checking my stats and saw 4 reviews and had to stop and "squee" for like…five minutes before I decided to go read it. OO


	8. The Recap

A/N: Okay, so I know you're not supposed to post just author's notes as chapters, but this is just kind of a catch-up post to recap anything I think I didn't cover or explain well enough.

This fan fiction is such an other-character fest. Ha.

I have this weird habit of starting to plan out the sequel before I'm even close to being done with the first. The sequel to Death Wish is going to be called Vengeful. That's all I'm telling you:)

I've been looking around at other fan fictions, and I noticed that mine has a considerably…larger…amount of words. I kind of make a point of having lengthy chapters, if you haven't noticed.

Typical me when trying to get a chapter finished: GAAH! Only two thousand, one hundred, and sixty-three words? I'm a failure! How the hell am I supposed to post this when it's so freaking short?

Gomen…you were hoping for a chapter. X.X I've kind of got writer's block, so I decided to do this instead…

* * *

Things I didn't explain at all or too well:

1. The "Etsu Haruhi Suzumiya" thing: well, you know that grin that Haruhi always has? That's what I picture Etsu's "Holy-fuck-I-just-beat-your-ass" smile as. Yet now that I've made the comparison I'm starting to see some rather scary similarities between the two…

2. Kyoumi and the arctic foxes: Kyoumi's hair is white. Thus, when she transforms, she'd probably be an arctic fox. So at the zoo, she was too mesmerized by the cuteness of the foxes to realize she could be giving the Sohma curse away.

3. Sora and the "clutching his throat" thing: it means he can't breathe. He's got some sort of asthma that goes off whenever he's in shock. He also has a mild social anxiety thing, so he runs off somewhere rather than have a scene made over him. (But the silence makes it worse, so he does it a lot more than he normally would have. Why, Kami-sama, did I NEVER PUT THIS IN?!)

4. Rena's murder from chapter seven: the heart and soul of this part is the result of me watching way too much Higurashi no Naku Koro no Kai.

5. Ichigo "being particularly moody this week": this is just one of those things Shigure often throws out there for his own personal entertainment. Like his habit of picking on Mitchan.

6. Sora's slightly suicidal thing: slightly? He shot himself in the arm! Okay, okay. It's fueled by his own silence, which he can't even control anymore—speaking just is not an option—and is pretty much of the same make as the way members of the Zodiac tend to think that they're the most horrible person on earth.

7. Ichigo's "real name": I'm kind of surprised that no one's suspected that Hiro isn't Ichigo's real name, either. Which it is not. He just lives in a world of aliases, doesn't he?

8. Sora Mori: ha. This was something I came up with at, yes, two thirty in the morning. Well, I think Mori definitely talks more than Sora does, and Sora definitely has more facial expressions than Mori, so I guess it's kind of balanced.

9. Etsu's crush on Yuki: -stares in horror- H-how could you…could you…ASK something…like that? Time for an Ayanokoji (spelling desu!) moment (Ouran): "Tamaki-sama…BAKA!"

10. Kyoumi and "I want to take them home": Hehe. This was taken from Rena from Higurashi no Naku Koro no Kai. :

11. Tohru and Sora: NO, this is NOT a pairing. I would rather throw myself from a very high bridge than have to write this. I am a proud member of the Tohru Honda Extermination Club.

12. Etsu's father: he's a Hentai. Enough said.

13. "Orii-chan": Akito hates Etsu's name, so she "changes" it to this. She calls her "chan" because that suffix doesn't intend any respect on her part. :P

14. "Pretty, petty wolf": I keep getting the feeling that somewhere over the rainbow someone is thinking "How many times is this baka going to misspell 'pretty'?" Nope. I mean PETTY.

15. Etsu vs. Kakeru: this was just thrown in for humor. No real meaning intended.

16. Etsu's smile: Etsu has got some good looks. Picture…oh…Rosalie Cullen smiling. Then you darken her hair—a lot. Then, you put her in a dark, Goth/punk outfit. Do you see it? XD

17. Etsu and Sora's relationship: there really isn't a romantic relationship about them; more like a brother-sister sort of thing. But it turns to that direction in later chapters. One of the saddest scenes I've ever written contains the two of them. And it's in the last chapter, which I have already written. (Typical.)

18. Etsu and Reiji: see number 9.

19. Etsu and singing from chapter two: Believe it or not, this was really just a filler. X.x

20. Okama/man woman: Ichigo calls Tohru this because of her masculine name for a female. Get it?

* * *

Japanese Glossary of the words in Death Wish:

For those of the humanoids who don't understand it… P

Baka – stupid, idiot, fool, etc.

Kaiju – monster, strange beast.

Okama – a man who dresses as a woman for hobby or profession

Hentai – pervert or perverted

Daijoubu – okay

Etto – uh

Kawaii – cute

–Desu – a suffix added onto the end of words or sentences to sound cute or funny.

Okaa-san – mother

Demo – but

Yoshi – alright

Gomen/gomenasai – sorry/I'm sorry

Sensei – teacher

Wow. Was that totally unnecessary?

* * *

SPOILERS DESU!

Okay, so now after posting no. 17 of things I didn't explain very well, I feel a burning need to put at least one spoiler from the last chapter.

She inhaled deeply, letting go of any fears that would hold her back. She crossed her fingers; arms still outstretched, and imagined a crowd behind her, watching closely as though it were an intriguing performance. _Are you watching? _She mused, smiling in a more pain filled sort of way. Ignoring all thoughts that didn't encourage her to go on, she leaned further out over the ledge, until her balance started to waver. Slowly, she took another step…

…And threw herself over the edge of the building.

_Good night. I love you._

WOW. Who the heck did I just kill off? Only I know. –Evil laughter-

* * *

-Emo sob- only 1,080 words.

Etto… so now I guess you're free to rant at me about how you wanted an actual chapter, and how you're going to come to my house tonight and murder me Higurashi style.

I'LL JUST HAVE MY OTHER HEAD EAT YOU.

* * *

Thanks to the following people:

Fanny-kun

Toshirogirl

Kiki Lelsissia

Serpent-vampfreak

Buffyandspike-4ever

AnagumaConscience

Arigatou-Gozaimasu for reviewing!


	9. The Tutor

A/N: -Ritsu pops out-

Ritsu: MALICIOUS WORDS AND HAPPINESS IS SO SORRY! SHE APOLOGIZES TO THE ENTIRE WORLD—GAAAAH! I APOLOGIZE TO THE ENTIRE WORLD ON ACCOUNT OF THIS HORRIBLE HUMAN BEING THAT YOU ARE FORCED TO READ THE WORKS OF! II AAMM SSOORRYY, WWOORRLLDD!

Malicious: I APOLOGIZE, WORLD! I AM A HORRIBLE HUMAN BEING FOR THIS CHAPTER TAKING SO LLLOOONNNGGG!

Ritsu: -insert sorry tantrum here-

Malicious: I am sorry. I had a major power outage and by the time it came back on, the chapter was only half-finished. Then, as I was trying to finish it, lip-synching Numa Numa into the mirror sidetracked me…(You know how crazy I am.)

Ritsu: I'M SORRY, POWER OUTAGE! I AM SORRY FOR YOU DELAYING THE CHAPTEEEEEEEER!

* * *

Tohru stared down at her progress report in inexplicable—and unbelievable—mortification. She had a _failing grade_. She groaned quietly and lie her head on her desk, resting her arms on either side of her head, fingertips falling off the edge of the faux wood, in defeat.

"Hey, Tohru." Arisa Uotani tapped the brunette on the shoulder with her pencil. "You get a bad grade?"

Tohru shot up and scuttled, backwards, against the wall; hand outstretched and stammering gibberish as she did so. "I'm sorry!" She whimpered, turning around and falling to her knees, metamorphic lightning background—and spotlight—appearing. "I thought I was _ready_ for that test!" She added with a groan. "And to think, Yuki-kun spent all of that time helping me study…"

"Honda-san?" Mayu-sensei requested. "Can I speak to you for a moment?" She gestured to the open door.

Tohru blinked, standing up and heading over to her homeroom teacher. "Y-yes, ma'am."

In the hallway, Mayu-sensei sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, closing the door slowly so as to block out eavesdroppers. "Honda-san, what are we going to do about these grades?"

Tohru stammered an "I don't know."

Mayu eyed her over. "I think you need to hire a personal tutor. At least until you bring your grade up. If you are not able to pay for it, the school system could probably lend a hand…"

Tohru took on an appalled expression. "Oh, no, I couldn't possibly!" She hesitated and smiled. "Really—Yuki-kun had been helping me study." She informed Mayu-sensei surely.

Mayu sighed again. "Come with me."

Tohru followed her down a corridor and to the library. Mayu nonchalantly pushed the door open and went to the media assistant. "I'm looking for Matsumura-san." She told the volunteering student. Tohru cocked her head to the side, confused, and the assistant nodded and pointed to row 9, the classic literature section. Mayu grinned—"Arigatou Gozaimasu!"—And then strolled over to row nine, Tohru trailing behind in a rather confused state. Tohru peered down the row curiously.

There was a petite, thin girl standing in front of a shelf and with her head lowered, a book in her hands. Her hair was long, black, and stick straight. She wore, oddly enough, the top of the boys' uniform—that somehow had been formatted to flatter her shape—and a dark gray version of the girls' skirt, the short one that Tohru wore. She also wore thigh-high dark gray leggings and black shoes. She didn't look up.

"Matsumura-san?" Mayu asked. The girl peered upward shortly and Tohru noticed that she had emerald green eyes—not to mention that she was inhumanely beautiful.

"Hai." She stated. Her voice was quiet and soprano.

"This is Tohru Honda." Mayu explained. Matsumura nodded once, eyes directed back to her book. "Would you be willing to be her personal tutor?" Matsumura's highly pretty face remained clear of emotion as she glanced up at them once more and nodded simply with a slight murmur of "Hai, understood."

"Oh, Honda-san?" Mayu asked. Tohru looked up at her. "This is Matsumura Ayu—one of the top students at Kaibara High School." She informed the brunette with a grin.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Tohru Honda!" Tohru introduced herself hurriedly, bowing vigorously.

"Hai." Matsumura pushed her rounded-rectangle glasses further up the bridge of her nose—Tohru had just noticed that she was wearing them. "Matsumura Ayu."

-That evening-

Matsumura had a quick pace, and Tohru was lagging behind slightly, occasionally having to catch up to her after she stopped in order let Tohru do just that. Matsumura moved quickly and gracefully through the thicket of brush and trees, whereas Tohru was rather clumsy and tripped often.

Finally, they reached the house. The porch light was on, and Matsumura waited for a panting Tohru to open the door. Matsumura followed Tohru inside, clasping her hands loosely. There was a loud yell of "YOU DAMN RAT!" from upstairs. Matsumura looked up at the ceiling nonchalantly.

"Rat…" She murmured. Tohru felt ice shoot up her spine as Matsumura continued to inspect the ceiling for a good five minutes before shrugging and looking elsewhere. "Elsewhere" turned out to be the stairs as Kyo descended them. Matsumura said nothing as Kyo stared at her, bewildered. She fixed her glasses' position, instead. There was a moment of silence.

"WHO THE HELL IS THAT AND WHY IS SHE IN THE HOUSE?"

"Ah!" Tohru exclaimed. "K-Kyo!"

"Matsumura Ayu," Matsumura told him simply. "Tohru Honda's tutor."

"Tutor?" Kyo demanded. His eyes darted over to Tohru.

Matsumura nodded once in a bored manner. "I am assuming that you are Kyo Sohma."

He stared at her before frowning with a twitch of his eyebrow and stomping back upstairs, the sounding of a door slamming moments later. Matsumura made no indication to the sudden minor outburst, merely shrugging again and readjusting her glasses as though they were really too far down the bridge of her nose.

"Do we have company?" Yuki implored as he descended the stairs, peering into the hallway.

"And I suppose you're the rat." Matsumura told him with a smirk. Yuki froze on the spot. "Matsumura Ayu—Tohru Honda's tutor. I have already explained this to Kyo."

"Oh…hello, Matsumura-senpai. I am—"

"Sohma Yuki." Matsumura interrupted.

"How did…you know?" Yuki asked, slightly freaked out by the girl standing in their front hallway. "Have we met before?"

"No." Matsumura replied. "Is it wrong to know someone's name? Did you not know my name until I told you?"

"Well…ano…no."

"And are you positively sure of this?" Matsumura pressed on. "Were you, perhaps, watching the situation in third person point of view and thus, learned my name before a question was ever in need of being asked?"

Yuki sweat dropped, turning around on the last step. "Ano…right…well…I'll be upstairs, Honda-san...if you need anything…"

"Hello, who's this?" Shigure asked, performing his usual knack of showing up when least needed.

Matsumura didn't bother to explain, this time.

"This is Ayu Matsumura-senpai." Tohru explained. "The school suggested that I get a tutor…and so…" she bit her lip. "H-how much do you need, Ayu-senpai?"

(Interruption: yeah, her first name is Ayu. Just making sure that was clear…)

"I do not know." Matsumura replied coolly. "How much do you suspect that I would 'need'?"

"WELL," Shigure cut in. "If you would so humbly partake as our second adorable flower slash housemaid slash tutor, we'd be more than happy to pay whatever reasonable amount you could have in mind." He added with a bounce of his eyebrows 'seductively', leaning toward her.

Matsumura stared at him, surprised, and took a wide step backward. In this step, her direction took the path of a large, expensive-looking vase that no one really noticed was there before. She nearly bumped into the stand in what seemed to be slow motion, hand managing to barely brush against it. By some horrendous event, the stand toppled backward, the vase falling and leaving Matsumura gasping loudly and watching in utter horror as it fell to the ground and shattered loudly. Matsumura dropped to her knees, staring down at the pieces and in a fixed position to tear out her hair.

"There is no way…" she muttered. "There is no way in hell…I just hardly touched it…"

"So she's clumsy." Shigure sweat dropped.

"HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO PAY FOR THIS?" She shouted to no one in particular, personality taking on a quite drastic change from its usual stoic type and revealing a hidden side of her rarely seen, it seemed.

"That vase was a family heirloom, priced as very high and valuable." Shigure lied smoothly, smirking as he said this. Matsumura stared at him in terror. "I'd say the price was…oh…six million yen?"

"SIX MILLION YEN?!"

"S-Shigure-san…" Tohru sweat dropped, aware of the lie. (Good job, Tohru! Everyone, applause, if you would?)

"It may have been higher, I can't remember."

"Please tell me it isn't!" Matsumura shouted in desperation.

"Ah!" Shigure exclaimed. "I've just thought of a way for you to repay me!"

"Please, explain." Matsumura frowned. "Because I'm not going to be your personal slave or anything like that, _Hentai_."

"With every 'A' or 'B' Tohru makes, I'll deduct 300,000 yen." Shigure stated.

Matsumura eyed him momentarily. "Deal."

She grabbed Tohru by the wrist and pulled her up the stairs hurriedly, somehow already knowing where her room was.

"Come on, Tohru-chan! We have moto, moto studying to do!"

-

"Somehow I just don't find those clothes suitable for our newest adorable flower." Shigure commented Ayu on her casual jeans and a T-shirt, who sat at the complete opposite end of the table (which must be getting pretty crowded, by now.) "I think you should go for something more…oh…_exotic_."

"You sick bastard." Kyo and Ichigo muttered in accidental unison, glaring daggers at each other afterward.

"I know!" Shigure suddenly exclaimed. "I'll have our _best man_ find you a _new image_."

"New image." Ayu repeated dully.

"Matsumura-senpai, please pay no mind to him." Yuki sighed in exasperation; fully aware of whom Shigure was referring to. It would take more than a large, imaginary debt to make him return to Ayame's shop.

"So, Ayu-kun, what do you say?"

"I think that's been decided." She muttered flatly.

"So you're going to Ayame's shop?" Tohru asked excitedly. "I'll go along if you want me to, I haven't seen Mine-san in a long time!" She continued rambling on about Ayame's shop after this. Ayu sighed passively and laid her head on the table in defeat.

-

"So…hi?"

Nod. (You should already know who this is.)

"Your name is Sora, right?" Ayu asked awkwardly, blinking up at the teenager beside her who walked almost grudgingly.

Nod.

"How do you spell it?"

"Uchuu." Etsu spoke up, pronouncing each syllable thoroughly and rather tonelessly. "Or with the kanji for sky. However the hell you want to spell it."

Sweat drop.

Sora rolled his eyes. Shigure hadn't given him much of a choice in coming, really, and Etsu was performing her usual habit of taking on a painfully jealous state whenever another female creature that had good looks was within fifty feet of him.

"So where exactly are we going?" Etsu asked Sora loudly in a useless attempt to make her presence more apparent than Ayu's. This was typical Etsu, for you.

He shrugged.

"Ano…it's a nice day." Ayu put in weakly, feeling considerably younger next to the eighteen-year-olds.

"YES, IT IS A NICE DAY!" Etsu shouted rather randomly, making Sora and Ayu jump. (Sora jumps? MUAHAHA. I have evil ideas, now.) "THE SUN IS SHINING AND THERE ARE PEOPLE OUTSIDE. ISN'T IT A NICE DAY?"

A few people turned around momentarily with confused expressions before shaking their heads and returning to their own business as young children yelled and ran amok. Finally, Ayame's shop came into view, sign seeming rather flamboyant against the dull outlay of the building itself.

"So this is it." Etsu muttered, smirking. "Looks pretty plain."

Her first mistake was to push the door open, striding inside nonchalantly and completely ignorant to what was inside.

Her second mistake was to realize what kind of store it was.

"W-what is this?" Etsu demanded of Mine, who had appeared out of the storage room, staring wide-eyed at the rack of bunny girl costumes that stood before her. "And what are you wearing? Please tell me that's not the uniform!"

"I'm wearing this because I like it!" Mine told her cheerfully, flouncing about in her maid outfit. Suddenly, an evil gleam captured her eyes and she snatched Ayu's hand, smiling maliciously at her. "Do you like to dress up?" She asked eerily.

"Not…" Ayu started.

"GREAT!" Mine chirped, speeding behind a set of curtains with Ayu in tow, ignoring her shouts of protest.

Etsu cackled wildly and elbowed Sora in the ribs. "THAT got rid of her!" She laughed, getting a rather dirty look from Sora. The realization fairy, another one of Malicious's insane creations, reared its head, and Etsu's eyes darted around the room suspiciously. "And where is Ayame-san?"

Sora shrugged.

Etsu sighed, bored already and noticing the lack of customers. Sora ventured over to a couch and sat down, and Etsu filed through racks and shelves of clothes curiously, occasionally taking one out and holding it up.

"I think I'll try this on." Etsu murmured thoughtfully.

Sora looked up tiredly, and nearly had a heart attack when he saw what she was holding.

"WHAT?" Etsu demanded stubbornly. "I just want to try it."

She dashed off to find a dressing room.

"That feeling that was in your heart right now, like a little flickering flame, was what we call a MEN'S FANTASY!" Ayame exclaimed, appearing out of nowhere and making Sora jump yet again as Malicious shuffled into a corner, writing down all sorts of wicked ideas to—GAH!

"SHUT UP!" The rice ball mascot shouted at Malicious.

Ahem.

Sora stared at the man before him, rather disturbed.

"I, Ayame, can help that fantasy come to life and thrive in the open air! It is something as beautiful as a crimson rose, that fantasy that is now living within your heart and simply YEARNING to burst free and become a reality!" Ayame elaborated, throwing in random hand movements with a euphoric smile. "Men throughout the years have been giving birth to these beautiful fantasies—oh? What's this?" Ayame asked, peering down at the note that had been handed to him.

"You've got me horribly misunderstood." It read.

"OUCH! DAMN IT, TRASH CAN I WILL KILL YOU!" Etsu's voice shouted from inside a dressing room.

Sweat drop.

"You go for that type?" Ayame asked simply, smirking. "Of course, we can work to sweeten her image with white dresses and lace, with beautiful—BEEP—and of course highlighting the—BEEP—of the—BEEP!"

Sora blinked rapidly, now fully convinced that he was sitting beside a madman in a kinky cosplay store.

Malicious, at the time, was hiding behind the couch and attempting to pluck one of Sora's hairs for a DNA sample to prove how much of a stalker she is.

"Of course, the young beauty that Mine is currently holding hostage is sure lucky to have been born with a face like that!" Ayame paused to laugh loudly.

Sora stared at him uncomfortably. (Poor guy.)

"Oh, Ayame-san!" Mine called, poking her head out of the curtains, grinning. "Ayu-chan is finished getting dressed! I've transformed her into an adorable flower, as Shigure-san mentioned!"

_Heaven help me._ Sora thought hopelessly.

"IS SHE?" Ayame asked excitedly. "Bring her out!"

"You heard the boss!" Mine squealed to Ayu. "Come on out! It's okay!"

"No—but—don't…" Ayu squeaked hopelessly, yet was pulled into the open by Mine, anyway.

Malicious fainted, falling to the ground loudly.

The dress was about knee-length and black, with long, bell-shaped sleeves that were trimmed at the cuffs with white lace decorated with black crosses. The same lace and fabric flowed across the shoulders and around the collar, and was around the waistline. Underneath the dress was a few, thick layers of white netting and ruffled fabric. Ayu wore knee-high socks that also had the white lace at the top and white shoes, and wore a maid headband. Her glasses were gone, replaced by contact lenses. She wrapped her arms around herself shyly, slinking into the background whenever the opportunity appeared.

"Can I go back in and change?" She asked in humiliation, eyes sliding over to Sora who was now staring with determination at a shelf, face fully flushed. (He's still a guy, people.)

"OF COURSE NOT!" Ayame exclaimed. "With this image you create the look of pure innocence and mischief blended into one, and the dark hue makes the look even more adorable!"

Mine nodded, contributing to the relentless flow of praise.

"Ano…"

The group looked up.

Etsu stood near a shelf, hands clasped shyly behind her back.

Malicious, who had just regained consciousness, fainted loudly yet again.

She wore a black leotard that flattered her shape considerably, highlighting a particular area that made Sora kind of want to run away (I am so mean to this guy.). She wore diagonal, fishnet-style tights over a pair of red tights. Around her neck was a white turtleneck-style accessory that molded perfectly around the perimeter of her neck, and about an inch later after that, matching cuffs on her wrists. She wore a headband with furry black cat ears, the band itself invisibly in her almost-equally colored hair. She wore black platform shoes with stiletto heels.

"I was curious!" She exclaimed defiantly.

* * *

A/N: Teehee. I apologize for the wait and the abuse of Sora in sexual situations. :P 


	10. The Fairy Tale

_There isn't much to us._

_I hurt him, and so I'm repaying him for it._

_That's our story, or whatever alias you can think of for my relationship with him. In a way, that really disturbs me. In a strange, twisted way I hate it that I only hang around him because of something that I did that I find it so brutally hard to forgive myself for that even to this day, years from the event, it feels like I'm fighting a war within myself. The war is simple—break a heart and you win. Injure someone and you're accomplished. Hate someone and it just isn't enough. Yet, I'm not sure exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. The opposing sides are myself and, myself. So what do I do?_

_Break my own heart…or Sora's?_

_Either way I lose._

_-_

So there was a beautiful maiden, who was walking in the forest one day, because it seemed a fitting day to take such a stroll.

Yet there was a catch to this fairy tale. The beautiful maiden wore only black, and the particular October day was dark and overcast, and the forest she was walking in had creepy-looking fog that swirled around the maiden's feet menacingly, and the trees cracked and twisted this way and that, kind of like a haunted forest. In a clearing, there was a large, blackened cauldron just sitting there, as if it were daring the maiden to come closer.

The maiden, being particularly curious, decided to impose upon the urge to move closer to the cauldron. As she peered inside, she saw a gathering of green apples, all looking quite beautiful and tempting.

As she looked up, she set eyes on another person staring back at her. It was a prince, she knew, and he seemed to have the same idea.

The maiden took out an apple and offered it to him, never once cracking a smile. He declined, hand movements insisting that she went first. The maiden agreed and took a bite of the apple.

_And then she died, and the prince lived happily ever after, as sadistic as that sounds._

-

Etsu's eyes flicked open, and she immediately frowned and buried her face in the pillow in humiliation that her own mind had created such a strange, clichéd dream.

And why would the prince live happily ever after if the maiden died? Wasn't she supposed to live after he kissed her, and then they _both lived_ happily ever after?

She scolded herself for the stupidity of the dream, smacking her forehead roughly as though that would banish it from her brain entirely, and she wouldn't have to deal with it ever again. Etsu sighed passively, and glanced over at the clock. It was Saturday, and around noon. She had slept that late?

There was a nagging feeling somewhere in the back of her mind that had something to do with the dream that she had just unwillingly witnessed before waking. Yet she ignored it, putting it off as the semester tests that were approaching. She flung an arm over her eyes in an attempt to block out the mocking sunshine that streamed in through the open windows, and mentally cursed the person who had undone her thick curtains.

She wasn't getting out of bed.

Not now, anyways.

-

Talking to Sora on the phone was a waste of time, Etsu decided, because he didn't _talk._ That much was obvious. But it was a good sort of waste of time if you had something you desperately needed to tell, because he clearly had no better choice than listening, unless it was some sort of utter bore, or something he just really didn't want to hear. Yet it seemed mandatory to constantly ask—rather pointlessly—if he was still there, and a tap on the—unused—mouthpiece would signal a 'yes'. It was sort of like sign language, yet with sound.

"I had this ridiculous dream last night." Etsu told him, not surprised to hear silence from the other end. "It was like a twisted, morbid Snow White and the Seven Chibis." She smiled at the thought as she imagined Sora sighing and writing to her that it was 'dwarves', not 'chibis.' "It was really stupid." She repeated. "It was like something from the abyss of a high Dr. Seuss's mind." She laughed briefly; it was awkward to be the only one laughing, smiling, when the person you were talking to was stoic and silent. "I miss you." She joked, and felt her face flush after she had said it.

The nagging feeling grew stronger.

"I'm sorry…for yesterday." She told him finally, biting her lip. "With that Ayu kid?"

The silence was beginning to make her feel rather insane, like she was talking to herself.

"That's just how I am, you know?"

Still she heard nothing, and was beginning to get her suspicions.

"Are you there?"

Tap.

She sighed in relief. "Thought you hung up on me." She grinned. "Okay, so I guess that's all I needed to say." She waited, still some deranged part of her mind expecting him to answer her. "Bye."

She hung up without waiting for him to answer, even if she knew he wouldn't.

-

"Etsu-san?" One of the elderly members of the main house implored as she noticed the teenager walking by, chains on her black, red-lined Tripp pants clinking. She hadn't been by to see Akito in a while, and his assistants were beginning to wonder if she was ever going to come back.

Rumors were saying that Etsu had been looking different lately, like she was constantly in some sort of abyss of depression.

"Yeah?" She asked, smiling.

"N-nothing…" The woman looked away, frowning. The rumors couldn't have been right.

But the smile wasn't genuine.

-

"Akito-sama?" Etsu peered into the room to see Akito laying by the sliding door, wearing her favorite robe and with one arm propped up to support her head. She turned over slowly, though she already knew the voice.

"Hello, Orii." Akito replied simply. "Have you heard what they're saying? Is it true?"

Etsu stared at her in mild confusion, not quite sure what "they were saying" and how to answer.

"I don't understand." Etsu admitted. Akito's pupils seemed to go to slits.

"LIAR!" She shrieked angrily. "You dirty whore!"

"What are you talking about?" Etsu asked softly. She'd learned the hard way that it was best to put off an aura of calmness whenever Akito was in a rage.

"Tell me your relationship," Akito hissed. "With Sora Sohma."

Etsu's blood went cold, all color draining from her face. That had certainly been unexpected. She opened her mouth, yet closed it as she found herself lost for words, trying to think of a valid response.

"I don't have a relationship with him." She replied coolly. "We're friends."

"Friends?" Akito repeated, amused. "Is that true?"

"No." Etsu replied with some hesitation before answering. "Actually…I…I can't stand him." She knew that it was a straight-out lie, what she was saying. Yet she would die if Akito took her anger out on Sora because of Etsu's own stupidity.

"Are you lying, Orii?" Akito asked, her tone as sharp as a razorblade and the words icy.

"No." She stated defiantly. "I-I hate him."

Akito laughed sadistically, getting some amusement out of this. "Are you positive?"

"I hate his very existence." She lied. "He's just so silent—it makes me feel like I belong in an asylum! It's like talking to a mannequin! I hate how he always gets hurt and won't tell anyone, like he doesn't want help!" The addition had some truth in it, yet 'hate' wasn't the proper term—more of 'dislike'.

Akito smirked. "Go on."

"I-I hate how he's always got girls fawning over him, and he pays attention to them! I hate everything—_everything_ about him." Etsu insisted, eyes beginning to sting as she told the lies so simply, knowing perfectly well that only the first sentence was truthful. Her words of hate were like acid as she spoke them. "I hate the way he looks, the way he acts—everything. I'm sick at the sight of him. I hate how he overreacts at everything, and you have to be so damn careful when you talk because you never know when you could step on a mine and send him running off somewhere."

She dug her fingernails into her palm to keep from crying as realization washed over her—her hate of girls that were close with him, her habit of acting differently around him, everything.

The dream was beginning to make sense.

"I hate him _so much_." She choked out. "So much that I could just _die_."

"Of course." Akito whispered to herself. "I should have known. It's obvious you hate him."

_I hate the way I feel like dying every time I see him upset._

_I hate the way I know that I'm the cause of his silence._

_I hate the way that he just seems like a precious child to me, sensitive and quiet._

_And I _hate_ the way that I could _never_ hate him._

"I'm leaving." She announced, voice strangled on account of her throat that seemed to be closing as the stinging in her eyes worsened.

Without bothering to hesitate, she ran from the room, ran from the main house, and didn't stop running until she was leaning against her front door, panting and crying like there was no tomorrow. She weakly pushed the door open, thankful that her mother and Kaori were out, and forced herself upstairs, collapsing to the floor once inside her bedroom.

"I love you." She whispered to no one in horror, a perfect summary of everything, and imagined that there was a phone in her hand, and that the silence of the empty house was the testing stillness of Sora's silence. "I love you so…damn…much."

* * *

A/N: Aw! So sad! Muahaha, I had this planned out since chapter two…

-

BONUS PARODY:

-In a dark room somewhere-

Mrs. Therapist sat at her desk in her fancy swivel chair, and Sora lay on the couch-thing scribbling away and handing her notes weakly, and then slumping down more on the couch as if he were ashamed to be lying there.

"Uh huh." Mrs. Therapist muttered as she read. "Uh huh. Uh huh. Yeah .Uh huh. How does that make you feel?"

Silence.

"Sohma-san, I think that you're directing your poor self-image at yourself and blaming yourself for much more than you should—YEEEEEK!"

All of a sudden, the lights went out, followed by the sounds of crinkling plastic and someone swearing repeatedly, and muttering something about 'stupid desk.' The therapist screamed one last time, and then there was silence.

The lights came back on with such a blinding intensity that Sora had to shield his lovely eyes. ( :P )

"VENOM, I SWEAR TO GOD." A voice said, out of nowhere.

"Sorry!" Someone else apologized, and the lights dimmed considerably, until it was nearly dark in the room.

"There was a figure sitting in Mrs. Therapist's chair, silhouetted by the shadows cast over its area alone.

Sora stared at it, confused.

"YOU DARE STARE UPON ME?" It demanded, making Sora jump like a guinea pig on cocaine. ( XDD )

Finally, the figure stood and strolled to the front of the desk, its features thrown into the light. It was a girl, a young one, who was dressed in head-to-toe black. Her jacket looked like something from Halloween, imprinted with a human skeleton in the places where her bones should be. She wore black skinny jeans and all-black converse high tops. She had fair skin and an oval-shaped face with light blue eyes. Her hair was jaw length, two mid-neck length locks in the front, and layered. One layer was black, the bottom one, another purple, then blue, and the top layer pink. She grinned evilly at him.

Another figure moved to stand beside the first. She was nearly the same height, two or three inches taller, than the first, and had mid-neck length, layered golden blonde hair and hazel eyes. She wore a black, skull print jacket and skinny blue jeans, and Vans-style shoes printed with small white skulls. She had a rather insane smile on her face, Sora guessed it was intentional.

The first ventured over to where a golf bag was lying, near the window, and slowly unzipped it.

The rest of the cast popped out of the one golf bag.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Ichigo demanded. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" The multicolored-haired girl replied moodily. Her expression switched to where she was smirking at the rest of the cast's confused expressions. "I'm Malicious. I created all of you."

"Not me!" Kyo defended. Yuki and Tohru nodded.

"Except them." Malicious added with a roll of her eyes.

"WHAT?" Etsu demanded. She caught sight of what Malicious was wearing, for she just so happened to be wearing the same thing. Malicious had noticed it, too, and was staring at her with wide eyes.

"ET phony mony…" They both muttered as they touched fingers like that kid and the alien. (I don't take credit for this line. :P Did I write myself in? No. Just my fashion sense. But I exaggerated a little.)

"What do you want?" Ayu cried.

"I want your body." The other girl told her flatly.

There was an awkward silence.

"This is Venom." Malicious introduced. "She's second in command."

Blink, blink.

"I DON'T LOVE SORA, I SWEAR I DON'T!"

Everyone turned around and stared at Etsu.

"What was that supposed to be?" Venom asked.

"What the hell?" Malicious asked.

"You said I love him!"

"No…?" Malicious's tone held confusion. "And nor did I imply it…"

(Not in this parody, at least. :P )

_Hey, hey, you, you! I don't like your girlfriend!_

_Hey, hey, you, you! I think you need a new one!_

This time everyone stared at Ichigo, who turned around and answered his cell phone.

"Hello? Oh, my god. You did NOT buy that. NO WAY. Are you kidding me? No way, girlfriend. Oh, my god. NO WAY! He was totally checking you out! Uh oh, I gotta go they're like…looking at me. By the way, you should totally get that manicure!" He hung up.

"What the hell?" Etsu, Malicious, and Venom asked in disturbed unison.

"I have like, no idea what you're talking about." Ichigo flipped his hand at them, using a gay boy voice. ( LE GASP. No offense!)

"LET'S HAVE SOME BUTTSECKS!" Venom randomly shouted. Malicious let out a whoop of agreement.

The cast stared at them in disbelief.

Venom shimmied over to Sora. "Etsu-san wants to BANG you!" She whispered.

He stared at her.

"THEY'RE SO KAWAII!" Kyoumi cried, sweeping Malicious and Venom into a bone-crushing hug.

"BAD TOUCH!" Malicious screeched. "I'M BEING RAPED!" They squirmed out of Kyoumi's grasp, and Malicious went to stand by the window.

"SCREW YOU GUYS, I'm GOING HOME." She announced, and jumped out the window.

Shortly afterward there came the sound of a crash, followed by a cat meow and the random "MY LEG!" that can be heard in the background of various Spongebob episodes.

"I'm okay!" Malicious called.


	11. The Changes

A/N: I swear, dudes. So first I got sick. Then my internet stopped working, so I couldn't post anything. Then my computer got a virus, and I had to get rid of it.

I've got bad luck, huh?

But bear with me, please. It's Christmas time and I've got semester tests coming up that I need to study for. The chapters may be a bit delayed.

* * *

_Are you dying, Orii?_

Etsu's eyes flicked open.

Her room was dark, and the window on the west wall indicated that it was still nighttime, considering the darkened sky and stars flecked across the dismal atmosphere. Her head felt surprisingly clear, considering the event that had happened what didn't seem to have happened only…

She groped around in the darkness for her cell phone, and flipped it open when she found it. The overly bright screen read that it was 2:14 AM.

…Ten hours ago.

Akito had never been aggressive with her, in her mind. Not even when she demanded to know of her relationship with Sora, that wasn't what Etsu would classify as aggression. That was just how Akito was. But no matter what Akito did, she couldn't make Etsu's feelings dim.

Etsu stretched nonchalantly, urging herself out of bed. Once out, she went to stand before the mirror, turning in different angles and positions. She sighed passively, fingering a lock of hair absentmindedly as she stared at her own fair-skinned, heart-shaped face. She didn't see herself as anything to be proud of. She was just an ordinary girl, excluding the part about turning into a wolf when hugged by a male without the curse or when weak.

She left the room, shutting the door as quietly as she could, and headed in the direction of the bathroom. Once inside, she flipped the light on and closed the door, and stared at herself in the mirror.

She hummed to herself quietly as she went through the drawers and cabinets, finally drawing out a pair of ordinary scissors. She smirked and parted her hair, bringing it to the front over her left shoulder.

Call it a free-for-all.

-

"Ohayou!" Etsu chirped happily, throwing open the door to 3-A, her classroom. The first bell hadn't rung, yet, and there was a good fifteen minutes before it would. There were around seven or eight students all ready in the classroom, chatting amongst themselves in small clusters. They stopped and stared at the person in the doorway.

Her hair was jaw length, many choppy layers ranging in lengths from the back of the head and a few in the front. Her bangs were a straight eye-length fringe, in a sort of slant to cover the right eye. Two locks in the front extended down to her collar. Her hair was jet black, and her eyes were a copper color.

"Sohma…san?" A girl in one of the groups asked, bewildered. Her hair was rib-length, layered, and pale blonde, two braided locks in the front reaching an inch past the rest. Her eyes were a pale blue that paired nicely with the hue of her hair and pale complexion of her clear skin. "What happened to your hair?"

"What are you talking about?" Etsu replied with a grin, sitting down at her desk and taking her books out of her bags. "I just cut it, that's all." She hesitated. "And who are you talking to, anyway? My name is _Ori_, incase you didn't know."

"Ori?" The girl repeated, confused. "You used to go by Etsu-san…"

"I changed it." She replied simply. "You don't have to call me 'san'."

"Sohma Ori." She repeated. "It's like meeting you all over again." She sighed. "I guess I should start over as well. Konnichiwa, Ori! I'm Tsujimura Ryou!"

Etsu, or rather, Ori, laughed. "Konnichiwa, Ryou-san."

_Who is Etsu? That name is dead, to me._

-

Ori sighed, leaning back in her chair, as the last bell began to ring. "I have student council duties today…" She muttered to herself. She stood up and headed to Ryou's desk, where she was packing her books back into her bag.

"Ryou-chan!" Ori grinned.

"Hai?" Ryou asked, grinning back in return.

"Come with me to student council." Ori urged.

"Am I allowed to?" Ryou cocked her head to the side.

"You are if I say you are." Ori told her, taking Ryou by the wrist and leading her out of the room.

-Interlude-

"DAMN IT!" Kyo shouted, taking a fly swatter and hitting Malicious in the face with it. She scooted into a corner, protecting her notebook.

"What did I do to you?" Malicious demanded.

"YOU MADE ANOTHER OC!" Kyo hissed, bringing his fist down on the desk nearby. "You weren't supposed to do that, you idiot!"

"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!" Malicious shouted, cackling madly as she got up and ran from the room, jotting down character descriptions as she did so.

-One month later-

"You never told me why you dyed and cut your hair." Ryou murmured thoughtfully. Ori looked up from her homework and cocked her head to the side. It was Saturday, and they were in Ori's bedroom.

_I felt like if I changed myself and became a different person, I wouldn't have feelings for Sora, Akito wouldn't figure that out, and hurt him. _She thought, but kept it mental. "I don't really know." She shrugged. "I guess I just got tired of my old hair."

Ryou frowned, lacing her fingers in Ori's hair. "It was pretty sudden, huh?"

Ori bit her lip. "Yeah, I guess it was. It was kind of for…someone."

"Who?" Ryou asked excitedly, eyes lighting up. "A boy?"

"…Yeah…"

Ryou smiled evilly. "I'll have to meet him and test for approval." She informed Ori. "You're not going to waste your time on some jerk."

Ori laughed. "He's not a jerk," She assured her. "I've known him for quite a while, really."

"Call him and tell him we're coming over next Saturday." Ryou instructed.

Ori drew her cell phone from her pocket with a shrug, and dialed Sora's number. It rang twice before it was answered by silence. Ori's pulse accelerated. "SORA-CHAN!" She greeted in a singsong voice. "I'm coming over next Saturday, okay?"

Silence, naturally.

"Sayonara!" She hung up.

"He won't know what hit him." Ryou murmured with a playful grin.

-

Ori awoke early the next day, fully aware of what she was going to do. She dressed quickly, and slipped out the door while her mother and Kaori were still asleep. Sora didn't live too far from her, but she took her time going there.

When she arrived, she threw open the door and called out, "I'm home!" Jokingly. Sora simply peered over the edge of the couch, not giving any real indication, considering that he already recognized the voice. But the person it belonged to? Not so much.

Ori shut the door, locking it, and strode over to the couch. "You like it?" She asked, running her fingers through her hair. Sora stared up at her in disbelief before writing a note and handing it to her.

"You look different, Etsu-san."

Ori rolled her eyes. "I go by Ori, now. I look different because I cut my hair, smart one."

He shook his head, writing again.

"You look happier. Then again, I guess you would if you didn't have to deal with me for that long."

Ori frowned at the last sentence. "What do you mean 'didn't have to deal with you'?" She asked.

Sora simply shook his head again, before starting to write. "You're happier because you're rid of me. You can go at your own pace instead of staying at mine. They say you've been at parties and that sort of thing. You never did that when you were around me more than you are now."

"The partying is pretty true." Ori murmured, sitting down beside him on the couch, sighing as he flinched away. "But I didn't get any happier. I'm not at any different pace than before."

Sora handed her a note. "Ah, well. At least Reiji won't have anything to be jealous of. Not like he ever did, considering I've got the social equivalence of a rock."

"I broke up with him." Ori told him. She frowned, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Stop saying you're worthless, you and I both know it isn't true."

Another note. "Then, why are you here?"

Ori drew in a breath. "I missed you."

"What is there to miss?"

"Stop it!" Ori hissed. "You're not worthless! Why are you acting like this?" Her eyes narrowed, and she snatched his arm. Sora's eyes widened, and he tried to get away from her, but to no avail. A new alias and haircut wouldn't change Etsu's personality.

She pushed up his sleeve and glared down at his wrist. Or rather, the _scars_ on it. She stared at the scars for a long time, a thick silence setting in.

"So this is what you are, now." Her voice was shaky. "I would have never guessed."

He refused to meet her eyes, staring with determination at the wall.

"Please," Ori whispered. "Say something. I can't stand this."

He stared at her blankly before silently sighing and mouthing two words,

"Ore kirenai." (I can't.)

"I'm an idiot." Ori muttered. "I thought that…if I was 'someone else', I wouldn't…" She shook her head. "I thought that I wouldn't think about you as much as I do."

His eyes widened.

She sighed and lay her head against his chest. (**1**) "Ichi jinsei Purusu Enogu 

_Shiawase_

_Gyaku_

_Iie jinsei_

_Deddo bi-to_

_Tanchou_

Shikyo Negai Watashi 

_Death wish_

_Dead me." _She whispered the words of the song, ignoring the tears in her eyes. "I'm not doing so well." She admitted. "I may have left him, but now I'm stuck with his _kid_." She winced visibly. "I can't raise a kid. Sora…please." She sighed. "I love you."

She looked down at the note he handed her.

(**2**)_ "Aishiteru."_

-

A/N: 1 - One life

Heartbeat

Colors

Happiness

Reverse

No life

Dead beat

Monotone

Death wish

Me

Death wish

Dead me

2 - I love you.

KYAAAAA! So sweet! Now I feel bad because this story is almost finished. I smell a sequel. Now, I must go sulk in my Emo corner because this chapter is only 1, 720 words. –sob-


	12. The Truth

A/N: I am like, at war with myself over this. One part of me is going, "YEAH! FINISH IT! WHO CARES IF IT'S RUSHED, I JUST WANNA KILL 'EM OFF!" And then my other head says, "Oh, no, Malicious. You shouldn't do that. Put yourself in their shoes, how would you feel if the author just wanted to kill you off so that she could get on to the sequel she's so stoked about?" And then I say, "You're right, other head." And then I give it a cookie.

Yes, I'm insane. You don't have to say it.

* * *

_Hi! It's me, Tohru Honda! Ayame-nii recently came by for a visit. I don't think anyone knew what to expect!_

"Hello, everyone!"

At the mere voice, Ayu nearly jumped out of her skin, and she dropped the metal teapot back onto the stove with a loud 'clang.' The metallic sound echoed in the ears of everyone in the kitchen, which would be Ayu and Tohru, and Ayu gritted her teeth, eyes shut tight as she urged the aftereffect of ringing to stop.

"The power of sound," She hissed in a failed attempt at joking.

"Come now, what's all the commotion about in here, my ladies?" Ayame asked cheerfully, leaning against the doorframe.

"You scared the hell out of me." Ayu growled humorlessly.

"Ah, of course, but why would such a terrible place be located in such a beautiful flower as yourself?" Ayame implored poetically.

"Shut up already!" Ayu ordered.

"Besides, it's not you that I'm here for anyway." Ayame told her, and flitted out the door and down the hallway.

"Wait for it…" Ayu muttered.

(**1**)_ "YYYUUUKKKIII-OTOUTO!"_

"Nii-san, _why_ are you here?"

"_How could you ask such a thing_? How would I ever forget my Otouto-chan's day of birth, which would bring him closer to becoming an adult such as the brilliant one he sees before him?"

"Please, Nii-san, don't be conceited. You really don't have to do anything for—"

"OF COURSE I DO! How could I possibly let this event go unremembered?" (I looked it up! It's a word!)

"I'm not saying that you don't have to remember it, but please don't make a big deal over it."

"Oh, please, if you would merely listen to the ideas that I have created for this special event, I would be most pleased."

"Fine."

Ayu turned back to the stove, and instead picked up the China teapot, so that if she were to be startled again there wouldn't be as loud of a sound. As luck would have it, a loud shout from the doorway startled her once again, and the poor teapot fell back onto the stove with another, not as earsplitting, clang.

"Are you gonna make lunch or what?" Ichigo demanded. "I'm frickin starving, over here!"

"I - !

"Chi - !

"Go - !"

Ayu cackled evilly as Kyoumi barreled out of nowhere, catching Ichigo in a bone-crushing embrace, only loosening her grip when Ichigo began to take on the appearance of someone choking. She grinned up at him happily.

"Let's go on a date, Ichigo-kun!"

"_Hell no!"_

"But…I have something I wanted to tell you."

"I said no, damn it, now leave me alone!" Ichigo hissed.

Kyoumi frowned adorably, and then grabbed Ichigo by the collar. "ICHIGO-KUN, YOU WANT TO GO ON A DATE WITH ME, RIGHT? YOU'RE JUST BEING SHY BECAUSE TOHRU-CHAN AND AYU-CHAN ARE WATCHIIIIIIING!" She shouted, throwing punches faster than he could dodge them.

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!" Ichigo shouted back in defeat.

-Interlude-

Malicious sobbed uncontrollably. "How…why…who…what…when…where?"

"Uh…?" Ori stared at her in a rather freaked out state of confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Why would you do that to your beautiful, long, hair?"

Ori frowned, running her fingers through her now short hair. "You're the one that made me do it, remember?"

"Please don't try to console me!" Malicious sobbed. "I can't believe you would ever do such a thing!"

"DAMN IT, MALICIOUS!" Ori shouted, and tore the notebook out of the other girl's hands, and flipped to the page where Ori cut her hair. "See? You wrote it RIGHT HERE!"

"I'm suing you for forgery." Malicious stated bluntly.

-That afternoon-

"Ichigo-kun!" Kyoumi squealed, waving wildly at the cinnamon-haired teenager that approached her.

"So what do you want to drag me along to?" Ichigo muttered, it was more like a statement.

"Oh, _nowhere_."

"WHAT?" Ichigo demanded. Kyoumi laughed shortly.

"You'll see soon enough," she promised.

-

"Kyoumi," Ichigo muttered disapprovingly. "I was banned from the Sohma estate."

They stood outside of the gates leading into the Inside territory, Ichigo with an unsure expression and Kyoumi with her usual cheerful state. She only laughed when Ichigo said this, and motioned to the wall that continued on around the estate.

"I never said we were casually going in, silly!"

"We're sneaking into the Sohma estate…as a date?" Ichigo asked in disbelief.

"Ichigo-kun, you're no fun!" Kyoumi whined. "When you say we're sneaking in it sounds like a bad thing!"

"THAT IS A BAD THING!"

"I just wanted to get somewhere without causing a riot…" She murmured thoughtfully. "But I guess if it doesn't matter to you, we could do something else."

"I'll sneak in." Ichigo sighed in defeat.

"Ichigo-kun still can't say no to me!" Kyoumi squealed.

-Inside the Estate-

"It's a…park."

Kyoumi shook her head. "I needed someplace loud so that we wouldn't be overheard."

"What's there to overhear?" Ichigo asked skeptically.

Kyoumi sighed and sat down on a nearby bench, crossing her legs as she did so. The main play set and things of that nature where a good couple of yards away, and the only people around were children and the occasional parent.

"Ichigo-kun, do you believe in fate?" Kyoumi asked quietly. Ichigo stared at her, bewildered by the sudden change in personality.

"No."

Kyoumi sighed again. "Ichigo means strawberry, or if you break it into 'ichi' and 'go', one five." She inhaled deeply. "The wolf is a tributary of the dog, the owl of the rooster, and the fox was supposed to be an animal within itself. The zodiac is based on a numerical system, if you remember. Tell me, Ichigo-kun, what is our cursed date?"

"January eighth, this time around." He replied simply. "It changes with year."

"Exactly." Kyoumi agreed. "Which outsider is eighteen this year?"

"Etsu-kun and Sora-nii." Ichigo stated, wondering if there was really any point to this.

"January eighth, looking at it as a number, which would be one eight." Kyoumi explained. "All of us are very close to (**2**) Tsu-chan. We may not have grown up with her, like Sora-nii did, but we are all very close to her. The wolf acts as _our_ god."

"So?"

"So, as the god grows older, the month and day changes. When Tsu-chan is thirty-two, the date of the Outsider becomes February first. The animal you are cursed with runs by family tributary, leaving only the fox when a Zodiac-cursed dog or rooster isn't found.

"Every generation, an animal is born cursed with a zodiac animal that isn't supposed to be there. Every generation, there is two of something. Usually the god of that time period decides to kill off one of the 'clones', or hide them away. They don't like people knowing that there are two, as strange as that sounds." Kyoumi hesitated. "Akito-san decided to kill either you or me. But, Tsu-chan argued against it, she wouldn't have it. And at that time, I wasn't speaking to you, Ichigo-kun. Akito-san hid me away."

He merely stared at her, too astonished by her news to speak.

"When I got out of the cat's room, I was so happy. I didn't care if you'd killed anyone, I wanted to find someone who knew what it was like to be the fox, even if they weren't one of the (**3**) Abandoned Ones.

"We all have the birth date of the year of the outsider. Tsu-chan and Sora-nii have the same birthday, and you and I have the same birthday. It's fate."

"What does this have to do with my name?" Ichigo asked finally.

"Everything." Kyoumi replied. "You can use your name alone and our numerical system to 'tell the future', if you must. Tsu-chan hasn't been well lately. Okaa-san had me leave some things for Natsumi-san, but apparently only Tsu-chan was home, because the car was gone. I heard her screaming…it was awful to hear. Tsu-chan hasn't been wearing her locket…the one that keeps her from transforming."

"Yeah, and?"

"It means that Tsu-can…her curse is gone."

Ichigo's eyes widened in astonishment, and he blinked a few times before replying. "If Kami-nee lost her curse…what does that leave us with? The only person who could have set her free would be Akito-san."

"Exactly." Kyoumi whispered. "Tsu-chan and Akito-san are close because they're both gods of something. Akito san was never happy that there was another god. He likes to think that he's the only one, and is special for it. He took away her curse because he was jealous of Tsu-chan. Our Outsiders love Tsu-chan, while Akito-san is treated with reverence and dark feelings from the normal zodiac. Of course he was jealous.

"But one-five, that's going to be the new date of the first Outsider next generation."

"If Akito-san is relieving curses from the zodiac, then he'll eventually set everyone free and there won't be any new zodiac." Ichigo told her, frowning.

Kyoumi nodded slowly. "Yes, there will be, no matter what. If a new god is born into the Sohma family, a new zodiac will be born, as well.

"But Tsu-chan doesn't know she's a god." Kyoumi added. "They decided to keep it from her. Tsu-chan won't understand why Akito-san relieved her curse, not at all. But we're forbidden to tell her anything.

"If anything, I feel bad for Sora-nii. Tsu-chan went to see Akito one day because she was afraid her curse had been relieved, which it was, and he tormented her into lying about Sora, saying she hated him. Tsu-chan loves Akito-san, and she also loves Sora-nii, so she lied to keep him safe. Sora-nii is starting to fall in love with Tsu-chan, too. Demo, Tsu-chan doesn't have much time left. One five is coming soon. Right now it's December."

"So that means…" Ichigo started, voice trailing off. Kyoumi nodded sadly.

"Tsu-chan is going to have to die."

"That's insane!" Ichigo cursed in protest. "Kami-nee shouldn't have to die just because of the turn of a new zodiac! That's insane, completely insane."

"That's the sacrifice that has to be made when you're a god." Kyoumi stated sadly. "But Tsu-chan doesn't know she's a god, so she won't understand it, like I said before. There'd be no point in telling her, because it's already almost too late. Soon, our curses will be relieved, two new gods will be born, and a new zodiac will be created.

"It's just the melancholy cycle of this cursed life. We always say we want to leave, we want to get out, but leaving will be very sad. Especially for Tsu-chan. She loved our curse with all of her heart, she didn't even call it a curse. She was happy to be the wolf, happy to be Akito's pet. Leaving must have been very painful for her." Kyoumi stood up, clasping her hands behind her back, and started to walk away in the opposite direction.

"How do you know all of this?" Ichigo called after her.

Kyoumi stopped and turned around, smiling mysteriously. "Like I told you, One Five-kun. _It's fate_."

And with that, she turned back around and left Ichigo standing alone in the Sohma estate, where he was forbidden from returning to.

"Fate should go kill itself." He hissed, and ran after Kyoumi.

* * *

A/N: (1) – "Otouto" means "younger brother", so Yuki-otouto would be "younger brother Yuki." 

(2) – E_tsu_. This also has a bit of a hidden meaning to it, considering that Tsu means 'steal'. God and steal have a somewhat connection, considering that, as god, her life would be 'stolen' if a 'sacrifice' is needed. ( This sounds so nerdy on my part. :P )

(3) – The Abandoned Ones would be the second animal that is killed or hidden away each generation.

And I am happy because this chapter got up to over 2,000 words. I wish I had the tolerance to write chapters as long as the first one, which was three-thousand-and-something.

On a side note, "Kami-nee" would be "Big sister god." It's a bit of a pun.

Yeah, writing this chapter cleared up a lot of things even for me. Now I'm sad to be ending it, considering that there is one chapter left. Maybe two, considering what goes down in the next one.

And believe it or not, the whole thing with Ichigo's name being able to be ichi, go, and what it had to do with the new zodiac andall of that wasn't planned. Seriously. I just thought of it tonight when I realized that Ichigo could also be one five.


	13. The End

A/N: This is the last chapter. I'm so sad… -Emo sob-

Oh, and I have no frickin idea if there's a convention center in Tokyo. And if there is, I sure as hell don't know how big it is or what the inside looks like.

* * *

"This is ridiculous." Yuki muttered, sitting at the table with the rest of the inhabitants of Shigure's house. He'd been muttering a sort of mantra to himself about how ridiculous and nightmarish something was, and "Why would he even think…" 

"What is so horrible you've been yapping about it for the last frickin hour?" Kyo asked sourly.

"No one asked you, baka neko." Yuki replied, giving Kyo a death glare.

Kyo made to shout a protest, but was silenced by a merciless smack on the face delivered by an uncaring Ichigo.

"Etto…Yuki-kun?"

The rat looked over at Tohru, who held an expression of confusion. Ayu appeared to be doing her best to tune out the whole scene, and he had to feel sorry for her considering that Shigure had agreed to cut her imaginary debt by a third if she only wore a maid outfit rather than regular clothes, at his house.

"Yes, Honda-san?" He asked in reply.

"Well…I was wondering…what is it that you're talking about? It doesn't seem like something pleasant…" Tohru said slowly.

"This."

Yuki passed her a small white card, imprinted with the same logo as the one on Ayame's shop on the front of it. She flipped it open, reading the contents. Sweat drop.

"What does it say?" Ayu asked, peering over Tohru's shoulder.

"You, and yes, I mean specifically YOU are cordially invited to Sohma Yuki's seventeenth birthday! This ball was especially designed and put together by yours truly, Sohma Ayame, and will take place at the Convention Center in scenic Tokyo…" It read, along with further instructions on getting there.

Ayu had a fit of hysterical laughter, ducking under the table as though it would muffle the sound.

"I wouldn't be laughing, Ayu-chan." Shigure told her sneakily. "Considering that this, for you, will be a mandatory event."

The laughter stopped dead, and Ayu peered up over the edge of the table, staring at him blankly. "Don't tell me this has anything to do with my debt…I mean I've never been to any sort of ball…and I can't dance…"

Nod.

"DAMN IT!" Ayu shouted, falling backward onto the floor and bringing her fist down beside her.

"We've also got you and Tohru-kun _dresses_." Shigure added.

"WHAT?"

-

The convention center turned out to be a fair-sized building, around four or five, and with quite a lot of indoor space. It had been cleared out of everything from the last anime convention that had been held there, and was currently under some last minute preparations.

The walls were adorned with red and gold banners, metallic streamers of the same colors flying this way and that, and a large, red, gold-trimmed rug had been thrown over the large staircase that lead into the room from a balcony on the Northeastern corner. The tables were white-painted wood, red and gold tablecloths (that seemed to be the theme), lain carefully over the structure, a gold tassel at either corner of the cloth.

Ayu, in her normal clothes stared in disbelief at the decorations, the outlay of the building, everything. Her concentration was only broken when Momiji, who she recognized from school and spending lunch period with the Sohmas, ran toward her and began to lead her away from her current standing position and to a door on the west side of the room.

"Hey, Momiji-san, what are you doing?" She asked, confused.

"Ayame-nii told me to take you to the changing room, uh huh? So here I am!" He told her in his high, childish voice.

He stopped at the door and pushed it open, gesturing her inside. Ayu sighed to herself and entered the room.

-

"Ryou-kun," Ori whined. "Let's leave early, ne? I hate family gatherings. _Especially_ my family's."

"Where's the fun in that, Ori-chan?" Ryou asked playfully. Both of them had gone for the 'little black dress' option.

"Ayame-nii forgot something very crucial to this," Ori added thoughtfully. "It isn't Yuki's birthday."

Sweat drop.

"Etto…what kind of people _are_ your family?" Ryou asked uncertainly.

"GGOOMMEENNAASSSAAAIII!" Ritsu screeched, running around in rampant circles, apologizing repeatedly for accidentally dropping and shattering a glass, influenced by Shigure who had bluntly told the Okama that it had been offensive.

"That kind." Ori replied dully.

(**1**) "_B-B-BISHONEN!_" Ryou cried in sudden adoration, metamorphic hearts "replacing" her eyes.

Ori stared at her testily. "…What?" She looked up to see Sora, having just arrived.

Ryou laughed loudly. "You know how to pick them out, Ori-kun!" She complimented, jokingly punching Ori on the arm. "You never told me he had _looks_." Ryou turned to Sora, who was standing silently before them, now. "Konnichiwa, Sora-kun."

He cocked his head to the side, confused.

"He doesn't speak." Ori explained quietly, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away.

Ryou bowed repeatedly, chanting a mantra of "Gomen ne, Sora-kun."

"Eh? It's Ayu-san." Ori noticed, looking towards the stairs, now.

Ayu descended the stairs, Tohru at her side. Her dress was strapless and black, a large deposit of faux white crystals and pearls along the breast line. (No, that did not have any explicit meanings.) From there to the mid-thigh point on the left leg, going on in a diagonal line to the right knee in a form-fitting shape that was crinkled and creased in the right places to look as though it were some sort of very long wrap made into a dress. From the part where that ended to the bottom, it was voluminous and puffy, a large rhinestone and white lace making criss-cross patterns and diamond shapes at random places. It also consisted of a foot-long train of the same make that trailed on the floor as well as the rest of the fabric that matched in length with it.

Tohru's outfit was an inverted copy of Ayu's—they seemed to be 'light' and 'dark'—yet with baby doll sleeves and a higher collar area.

Sora wondered hopelessly when Malicious would stop abusing him like this.

"You can't disrespect my hard work like that!" Malicious shouted, overdramatically, in the background. "Do you know how many frickin pages of 'fashion week' I had to go through? I've never seen so many dresses in my LIFE!"

The lights dimmed considerably, strings music beginning to play, as lights shined on a main sort of dance floor that had been set up. Tohru and Momiji were pointlessly twirling about, laughing. Ritsu ventured a few feet onto the floor before having a spasm-like reaction to being watched and he got off of the dance floor as soon as humanely possible.

"I'm just going to sit down somewhere." Ori proclaimed in conclusion, sitting down at a nearby table. Sora, having nothing better to do, sat down across from her.

"Gomen ne, Ori-kun," Ryou apologized, flipping her cell phone shut. "I told you I could only stay for a bit, I've got to go." Ori shot her an angered "Help me" look, but Ryou merely bowed again and swept out of the room quickly.

Ori crossed her legs swiftly, glaring down at the floor and fingering her locket with a rather agitated stance. "If you want to say something, say it." She sighed finally. "Or write it, whatever. Just don't sit there and stare at me like that—it's pissing me off."

"You've been different since you told me you love me."

Ori glared down at the note, and then at its' silent writer. "Have I really?" She hissed. "Maybe I changed, maybe I moved on. Hell, maybe my ex gave me his kid from one of his _little flings_ and refused to take it back. Did you consider that?" She smirked, annoyed. "Didn't think so. Life isn't a little fairy tale, you know." She switched legs, glaring more angrily at the chair beside her. "But it sure as hell seems like one sometimes, doesn't it."

He stared at her, slightly bewildered by the pointless anger.

"Would you quit that?" She ordered. "You keep staring at me like I'm some sort of god or something."

Sora's heart skipped a beat on the word 'god.'

"I guess _you_ would know that life isn't perfect." Ori huffed, shifting in her chair. "Just like your little friend Rena."

"Don't bring that up." The note read.

Ori laughed wickedly. "You're _still_ on about that?" She smirked. "Whatever you say, _Sora-kun_."

"Does the anger serve a purpose or are you just venting?"

Ori smirked again and slid the note back to Sora. "Purposeful or venting, huh? Good question." Her eyes narrowed. "If you threw away your life to protecting and loving someone, don't you think you'd get tired of the little things they do? Don't you think it would sicken you if they went off with someone else?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything!" Ori said loudly, catching the attention of a few people walking by. "Any other girl that would be around you, how I _hated_ them. I guess that just goes to show that I'm a clearly selfish person. You really shouldn't waste your time on me; go find another _Kojima Rena_."

"I said not to bring that up."

"Damn it, Sora!" Ori stood up, slamming her hands down onto the table and raising her voice as though she were trying to catch the attention of everyone within earshot. "You would always go off with her. Rena controlled your life." She paused to growl menacingly under her breath. "No, I take that back. You never had a life, Sora. It was over before you were even _born_!"

Sora stared at her in a startled state of silence (Malicious laughed insanely at her_ accidental alliteration_.)

"I hate you, Sora. You're dead. You're dead to all of us. You're dead just like your parents." She smirked evilly. "Do you know how they died? Do you need me to explain? I think I will. It was your fault." Her voice dropped to a low, satisfied purr. "_Everything_ was your fault. It still is. They killed themselves over you. If it weren't for you, they would be _alive_."

"_**YAMERO!" **_Sora fell to his knees, hands twisting in his hair as though he was going to tear it out, eyes frozen wide and with a haunted edge. "YAMERO! PLEASE, ETSU-SAMA!" He panted heavily, eyes stinging.

Etsu stared at him incredulously. "Sora…?" She whispered, a hurt expression capturing her face, drawing closer as though to comfort him, somehow._ No, no, no! And he called me 'sama'…_

Sora gasped loudly and stood in a hurry, tripping often as he ran at breakneck speed, turning down a corridor swiftly.

Ori ran after him, finally allowed the chance to catch up as he stumbled and fell, shaking, to the floor, curling on himself and burying his face in his arms. Ori knelt down beside him and laid a hand on his back. He jolted up and tried to get away again, failing as Etsu caught him by the shoulder and forced him to stay still. She dropped to her knees, pulling Sora down with her.

"I told you…a long time ago…that if I was going to push you into this, I would take you out." She recited, drawing him into an embrace and hiding her face in his shoulder. Her voice was shaken and higher than usual. "I—I didn't mean for this to happen." She bit her lip roughly in a vain attempt to stop the tears. "Not like this. I say too many foolish things around you."

"Get away from me!" He gasped, breaking free of her grip and scuttling a few feet away.

Ori smiled sadly. "I understand." She stood slowly, wrapping her arms around herself and sighing as she wiped her eyes dry. "Why would you need someone like me, anyways?" She paused as she was turning the corner into another hallway, noticing that Sora had practically run through a labyrinth. "I advise that you keep speaking. Whether this is the end or the beginning, I don't know. But when I'm gone—just remember it was me that helped you." And with that, she ran down the hallway.

He stared at her retreating form, trying to find meaning in her statement.

-

She didn't know how many times she had stopped and turned around, considering going back to apologize for the outburst. She didn't know how many times she thought of going back and not carrying out her plan, anyway.

She felt the high, cool night winds thrash her wet hair around her face, strengthened considerably by her height, and the cold rain that fell in thick sheets. She found herself on the roof of the building, staring out over the edge. She was the only one on the roof, and was thankful for that.

Ori's mind raced as she recapped her life up until now. "It's been fun." She sighed to herself. She unclasped the necklace that had been with her since she was born, holding it tight in her fist. It wouldn't matter, now. Her curse had already been lifted, no matter how much she wanted to deny it.

She was Etsu Sohma. Had-been Outsider year of the wolf, tributary of the year of the dog, she was nicknamed Orii by Akito, who was once her god, her keeper. None of that would make a difference, now. It had been fun while it lasted, hugging male teachers that got her in trouble, midnight talks with Tohru, that time Kyoumi had forced them into going to the zoo…

It didn't matter, now. Slowly, she opened her hand, letting the necklace fall off the ledge. She watched as it descended into the night, listening intently for the clink at the bottom she knew would be inaudible. She took another assured step closer to the edge, peering over onto the ground far below.

She spread her arms and lifted her face to the drops of precipitation that seemed numbing, now.

_I'd always wondered what it was like to have your entire world shatter into pieces. _She remembered Sora, screaming for her to stop. _I guess I know, now._

She inhaled deeply, letting go of any fears that would hold her back. She crossed her fingers, arms still outstretched, and imagined a crowd behind her, watching closely as though it were an intriguing performance. _Are you watching? _She mused, grinning in a more pain filled sort of way rather than the euphoric, accomplished grin she used to be known for. Ignoring all thoughts that didn't encourage her to go on, she leaned further out over the ledge, until her balance started to waver. Slowly, she took another step…

…and threw herself over the edge of the building.

_Good night. I love you._

---

Sora closed his eyes, opening them again with a small whimper from the child. He stared down at her blank expression caused by sleep. The child stirred briefly before settling again in a manner that Sora instinctively classified as a bad dream.

It had been three weeks since Etsu's sudden death. Her memento was set in the main room of Sora's home.

Looking down at her child's face always sparked her memory. A long-lasting guilt had settled over him. Not a day went by that he didn't consider what would have happened if he hadn't shook her off, had let her continue saying things that she knew would hurt. It would be painful at the time being, but no one would have died.

No one.

He remembered her grin, her short temper, and the way she would dress in order to draw attention to herself, only becoming angered when that did happen… He remembered her favorite season, winter, and her Zodiac form.

He remembered the last words she had said to him.

"I advise that you keep speaking. Whether this is the end or the beginning, I don't know. But when I'm gone—just remember it was me that helped you."

He knew the meaning behind it, now.

He knew that her child, considered an orphan, now, represented the life she couldn't have.

**Ai.**

…And even though the night seems dark, there's always the fact that dawn will come again.

He gazed down at the sleeping Ai again.

No matter how long it takes.

The cat was not the only animal to be left out of the Chinese zodiac, for it had made sure to inform three other animals of the "Date" of the banquet. But this date was incorrect, and thus, the four were forgotten. Yet the other three had made an appearance as their vengeful spirits, and just who was possessed by them? Well…

One committed suicide.

One lives in regret.

One was a murderer.

And one was a mistake.

The date on the calendar read January first.

_-End-_

A/N: Aw…I don't want it to be over! Think of the madness I could have caused! And I just killed off Etsu? What drugs am I on? I'M AN ABOMINATIONNN!

(Blame getting literally no sleep because of watching Loveless. :3)

OH YEAH. (1) Bishonen is a term for "Beautiful man."

Teehee.

And at first, in the paragraph where it says something like "Ori controlled your life," I meant for it to say "Rena".


	14. The Epilogue

A/N: Venom and I decided to do a crack-filled epilogue, and a serious one. Teehee. This would be the crack-y one.

Ps. Did I ever once mention that this is my first fan fiction…? No? Hmm. It is, FYI.

* * *

"We meet again, Sora-kun." Malicious taunted with an evil smirk and edge to her voice, crossing her legs in her swivel chair and tapping her fingernails on the desk.

Sora found himself back in Mrs. Therapist's office, sitting on the couch-thing and with the same two horrible people—"HORRIBLE?" Malicious demanded in disbelief—sitting before him in their fancy-pansy swivel chairs, none other than Malicious Words and Happiness and her companion in dastardly deeds—"Where the hell did that come from? It sounds like something out of a western movie." Venom commented—, Venom.

Malicious was wearing a red and black striped shrug jacket with white and black stripes along the sides and a large skull on the front, a punk-inspired black pleated mini-skirt, black and white striped thigh-high socks, and her all-black converse that Etsu—sniff—used to love.

"Let us have a moment of silence in which to mourn for the loss of Tsu-chan." Malicious and Venom proposed in a rather creepy unison, and then they both swiveled over to the desk, threw their heads down on it, and remained in that position until Sora broke the silence.

"You're the one that killed her off, you murderous savage!" Sora shouted angrily. Malicious and Venom looked up and stared at him in an extremely stunned state of disbelief before realizing that, via last chapter, Sora had started speaking again.

"I like killing people off!" Malicious whined childishly.

"I loved her!"

Malicious stared at him in surprise again before jumping up onto the desk in a very anime-y fashion and pointed at him while cackling madly as Venom had a fit of hysterical laughter, pounding her fists on the table.

"YOU ADMITTED IT!" Malicious cried in a singsong voice, repeating it over and over. "You admitted it!"

She jumped down from the desk and ran over to the window, throwing it open and shouting, "HE ADMITTED IT!" to the world below.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Someone was bold enough to reply. "OUCH!" They added as Malicious took a cinderblock out of nowhere and dropped it out the window, where it miraculously collided with the person's face.

"So, Sora-kun…" Venom murmured in a supposedly seductive voice jokingly, sliding next to him on the couch and leaning against his shoulder. "Now that Etsu-kun is dead, maybe you and I could…could…" Her sentence remained unfinished, for she burst into an insane, maniacal fit of laughter again and sprang up from the couch and back to her swivel chair in time to dodge the throwing of another cinderblock from Sora rather than Malicious.

"Where is everyone else?" Sora asked testily, looking around the room for any magical portals or golf bags.

"My other head ate them." Malicious replied simply. Sora stared at her, pretty damn freaked out by her weirdness.

"TIME FOR THE NEXT SECTION!" Venom shouted reaching up and pulling a lever that stuck out, rather obviously, of the ceiling. The scene faded out and into a scene where Venom and Malicious were sitting in an American Idol-y room, Makoto, president of the Prince Yuki Fan Club, sitting where the losers would audition, sobbing her eyes out. The sign on the back wall read "The Malicious and Venom Springer Show." An audience section was set up where the east and west walls would be, and Ryan Seacrest was walking around nonchalantly in the background.

"So tell us why you're here, love." Malicious urged.

Makoto sobbed loudly. "Y-Y-Yuki-kun is my everything. _Everything_, I tell you! If I graduate and leave him behind, another girl will come and take him away from me!"

"That's just stalkerish." Venom commented.

"Next person!" Malicious shouted, pulling another lever in the ceiling. A black hole opened in the floor around Makoto's chair, sealing itself when Ayu-chan fell through a similar one in the ceiling and landing in exactly the same spot.

"Tell us why you're here." Malicious recited.

"I have no idea." Ayu replied flatly.

"Did you know that when someone in the Sohma family is hugged by a member of the opposite sex, they turn into the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac?" Venom asked simply. Ayu stared at her in disbelief. "Yeah, it's totally true. Kyo turns into this really hideous reptilian thing when you take his girly man beads off."

"THEY ARE NOT GIRLY MAN BEADS!" Kyo shouted from the audience, followed by the "oohs" of the crowd and chanting of "Springer".

Cue cinderblock.

"NEXT PERSON!" Venom shouted, pulling the lever. Ayu fell through the floor and through the ceiling fell another Malicious, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Tell us why you're here." Malicious instructed, bored.

"What the hell?" Venom asked. "If that's you…and you're you…which one is Malicious?"

"We're both Malicious." The two Malicious-es replied in a bored state of unison, shrugging and then crossing their arms over their chests. "We're clones."

…

"No one ever calls me by my name!" Malicious 2 cried miserably. "I mean, it's always "Malicious, Malicious, Malicious"! Why does no one ever just call me XUE or HORRORS?"

"You never asked them to." Malicious 1 replied tonelessly. "Next." And thus, another person fell through the ceiling. This person happened to be a random gangster that they had found outside this morning.

"Your pants are indecently low." Venom answered before an inquiry could be given, pulling the lever.

Hitachiin Hikaru fell through the black hole this time, looking around at the scenery in a rather confused state before stammering a demand to know what the place was.

"This is a Fruits Basket fan fiction." Malicious commented, confused. "Why are you here?"

"Ask her." Hikaru replied flatly, pointing to the behind-the-set area where Ryan Seacrest was comforting a bawling Malicious 2.

"CLONE!" Malicious 1 shouted angrily. "I TOLD YOU TO GET BACK IN THE BASEMENT!" She ran off of the set, taking a broom from a supply closet and began beating her clone with it.

"Ouch! Stop it!" Malicious 2 whined.

"GET IN THE BASEMENT!"

"Ow! I'm—ow!"

"I SAID GET IN THE BASEMENT!"

"I'm going, I'm going!"

"NOW!"

_-This portion has been edited out for violence. We apologize for this moronic behavior. While we're waiting for Malicious 1 to stop abusing her clone, please watch this thirty-second montage of the brilliance of "Silly rabbit—Trix is for kids!"-_

In the basement of the studio where the Malicious and Venom Springer Show was taking place, Kaoru was sobbing his eyes out over his brother's picture, a razor blade clenched in his now bleeding fist.

"Hikaru!" He wailed. "Why must you always leave me for Haruhi like this?"

"Malicious 1!" Malicious 2 wailed in an equally pitiful tone, sitting beside him on the floor. "Why must you always abuse me like this?" She sobbed loudly before snatching the razor out of Kaoru's hands and pointing it at her own wrist.

CHICKAWAH! CHICKAWAH!

(Chickawah is my onomatopoeia for cutting your wrist. Teehee.)

-Back on the Malicious and Venom Springer Show-

"Next section!" Venom shouted once more, pulling the lever in the ceiling.

The scene changed to an American Idol scene, a raving crowd screaming their heads off in the audience section.

"Well, folks, it seems that Jackson went missing unexpectedly," Ryan Seacrest announced. "So we had to replace him with Venom."

"The announcer this round is Malicious!" A random voice announced out of nowhere. Malicious walked out onto the stage, waving gleefully at the cheering crowd. She karate chopped a man with a microphone in the nose, taking the microphone and brandishing it in the air.

"First contestant!" She called.

Yuki stepped out onto the stage, looking utterly confused and displeased.

"So what are you going to sing?" Malicious asked him.

"I'm not singing anything." He told her stubbornly.

Malicious reached for something before picking up a chair and holding it over her head as though she were going to beat him with it. "YOU'LL SING SOMETHING OR DIE A HORRIBLE DEATH, SOHMA!"

"Alright, I'll sing!"

"This should be good." Venom smirked.

Yuki took a deep breath. "I'm an EMO KID, nonconforming as can be. You'd be nonconforming too if you looked JUST LIKE ME. Paint on my nails and makeup on my face—I'm almost EMO enough to start shaving my—"

"Okay!" Malicious interrupted. "Judges?"

"THAT…WAS…BEAUTIFUL!" Paula cried adoringly.

"It was good…and stuff…" Venom muttered.

"That was absolutely dreadful." Simon said bluntly.

"Thanks for ruining the euphoric moment, Simon." Malicious thanked sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. "Next up is—Sohma Ichigo! Come on down!"

"DON'T WANNA BE A JAPANESE IDIOT!"

"You already are." Malicious rolled her eyes again.

"Oh." Ichigo hesitated. "Give me a minute, here."

Jeopardy music began playing.

"Everybody was kung fu fighting! HI-YA! They were as fast as lightning!"

"Uh…judges?" Malicious requested, slightly freaked out.

"IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!" Paula cried.

"EVERYBODY WAS KUNG FU FIGHTING!" Venom sang loudly.

"It was dreadful." Simon repeated.

Cricket, cricket.

"Next is Sohma Kagura!" Malicious announced.

"This goes out to my Kyo-kun!" Kagura chimed. "IIII WIILLL AAAALLLWWAAAYYSSS LLLLOOOVEEE YOOOOOUUUUU!"

"…-SNIFF-…Judges?" Malicious asked tearfully.

-Sniff- "The most beautiful thing…" –sniff- "…I've ever heard!" Paula whimpered.

"AWWW! IT WAS WONDERFUL!" Venom cried.

Simon wiped his eyes quickly, putting his scowl back on. "I wasn't crying." He said defensively.

"Uh huh." Malicious replied smugly. "Next is Sohma Kisa!"

"Ay-ee, Ay-ee, Ay! I'm your little butterfly! Green black and blue make the colors in the sky!"

"OH…MY…GOD!" Malicious squealed. "It appears that our judges have fainted from severe cuteness intake…wait, I think Paula's waking up! Yes! So are the others!"

"I LOVE YOU, KISA-CHAN!" Paula and Venom screamed, bouncing up and down.

Simon remained expressionless.

"Next is…oh, god…" Malicious hesitated, looking up from the note card into the camera. "Malicious."

"Another clone?" Venom demanded.

"LET THE BODIES HIT THE FLOOR! LET THE BODIES HIT THE FLOOR! LET THE BODIES HIT THE—FFFLLLOOORRR!!!!!"

"Okay, that's enough…" Malicious put in weakly.

"BEEEEEATEN, WHY FOR?! CAN'T TAKE MUCH MORE—HERE WE GO, HERE WE GO, HERE WE GO NOW! ONE—NOTHING WRONG WITH ME! TWO—NOTHING WRONG WITH…glub." She fell over with a tranquilizer dart in her leg.

Malicious 1 quickly threw the tranquilizer aside, grinning into the camera. "Okay, so that's it for the epilogue to Death Wish. Tune in next time for the sequel if Malicious will ever get off of her lazy ass and write it!"

Malicious 3, in the background, was still head banging. "LET THE BODIES HIT THE FLOOR!"


	15. Notice Sequel up!

Okay, so you're not supposed to post A/Ns as chapters, I know, but this is just kind of a preview of the sequel. I have the first chapter posted, and am working on the second one. It's called _Vengeful._

Sequel previw:

The daily routine of the Hirotani household was nonexistent, and if there were to be one it was quite invisible, and well adjusted to have become that way. The simple reason for this lay on the fact that the mother-unit of the house was usually in the kitchen, cutting some sort of edible object (it was usually lettuce or cabbage) with the largest knife or salad fork she could find in the drawer. At random, unpredictable times, she would stab the utensil into the cutting board, panting heavily, and begin throwing all objects within reach at her oldest daughter as she came downstairs to see what the commotion was about, though after this many times she knew quite well. She'd become her mother's toy, stress ball, voodoo dummy if you would.

Naturally, no one knew of the sadistic acts that occurred in the Hirotanis' home. The only available signs would be the bandages that would appear on the strangest places on the daughter's body, for she always greeted people with a pretty-faced smile, well-taken-care of blue-black hair that fell to the middle of her back, and clear ice blue eyes that were always slightly unreadable and mysterious, which would figure, considering her situation.

Hirotani Sen was good at lying, and Hirotani Sen was good at putting up with her mother's sadism.

It was hard to say just how many wounds Hirotani Yume had inflicted on her daughter since her other, oldest daughter had gone into a coma for reasons unknown, one of the most painful being the time that Yume had hidden a few ordinary sewing needles in her daughter's food.

Yume was, to put things literally, slowly going insane. She had been identified as a sadist with growing intensified mental instability, and would often have "black out" periods in which she would desperately try to kill everything in reach, Sen typically being the only thing in reach. Yet once the black out finished, she would return to normal, happy and smiling and able to form coherent sentences without screaming, able to pick up an object without throwing it. But she always asked how Sen had gotten hurt, the same question over and over again. And an answer that didn't sit well with her, or a mumble or grunt in response would send her into another black out.

But Hirotani Sen couldn't live that way.

-

"Sen-chan!" A voice called.

The small, petite girl by the school gate turned around slowly at the recognizable high voice, blue eyes curious as she scanned over the familiar facial features of Hina; round, adorable caramel eyes, pale complexion that would redden instantly at the sight of someone caught staring at her, (Hina was painfully shy), the soft-toned black hue of the hair that fell to her shoulders and bangs that ended evenly at her eyes. She currently wore a meek smile, bag slung somehow delicately over a small shoulder, hand raised in a shy sort of wave.

"Hina-chan," Sen murmured, looking away after having analyzed the short girl before her.

"Sen-chan, your face…" Hina acknowledged, reaching out to touch one of the white, rectangular bandages placed just above Sen's eyebrow. The other girl turned her head to a different direction quickly, denying Hina the action. Hina cocked her head slightly to the side, confused.

"It's nothing," Sen replied in a quiet voice, head lowered so that her bangs covered her eyes. "Nothing to worry yourself over, anyway. Neko-chan did it."

"He seems to scratch you a lot," said Hina thoughtfully as she pressed her fist to her lips, biting her tongue lightly. "Do shita no?"

"Betsuni." Sen turned on her heel to face Hina and flash her a white-toothed smile before sidestepping her and exiting the school gates, running the rest of the way as soon as she was a foot past the gates.

Hina, standing at the gates of the school, watched Sen's retreating form as she slowly began to 'shrink' as the effect of her becoming farther and father away. Hina sighed slowly and closed her eyes, opening them again after a minute and looking down at her shoes. "Do shita no, Sen-chan…"

-

"Okaa-san," Sen greeted tiredly as she hurried placed her shoes in a neat line on the mat, for it had become one of her mother's OCD-like pet peeves, and throwing on her house slippers. (A/N: In Japan, you have to take off your shoes as you enter someone's house.) "Watashi wa…" Her voice trailed off as she peered into the kitchen in time to see her mother plunge the knife into the cutting board angrily with an animalistic snarl, picking up a porcelain plate and hurling it furiously against the kitchen wall.

"KIRU!" Yume screamed throwing more plates and dishes against the wall and letting some clatter to the floor. "KIRU, KIRU, KIRU!"

It wasn't a good choice to speak during a black out.

-

"Sen-chan," Chiyo scolded as she wound the bandage around Sen's arm, the wound itself slightly swollen and stinging in reaction to the sudden, unwanted contact. She grit her teeth, closing her eyes. "I told you to come to me when Okaa-san gets like this."

Sen's eyes flicked open and she found herself in the darkness of her bedroom, moonlight streaming in through the windows and stars dotting across the deep blue sky. She sighed to herself as she realized that it had been a dream, and that she was in her bed supposedly sleeping rather than in Chiyo's bedroom, having bandages wrapped in a motherly way around her wound for her by her older sister. Chiyo was in a Tokyo hospital—unconscious.

Slowly, she urged herself out of bed, and to her closet. She quietly unloaded clothes from her dresser drawers and dug an old school bag out of the depths of her closet, stuffing the clothes into it. Her heart pounded almost audibly at the thought of what she was doing. Around an hour later, she found herself in front of the door, one hand on the handle. Slowly, uncertainly, she turned the handle as quietly as possible and slipped outside.

Hirotani Sen was a runaway.

-

The next morning dawned cold and foggy, the streets crowded with people rushing to get to their jobs and students hurrying to school. She'd found a small alleyway and had stayed there, wearing a heavy coat against the cold night air. Sen walked at a slow, normal pace to school, as though even the way she walked would give her away, considering that she had left home.

Hina waited by the gates for her, also as usual, and waved in the same timid manner as Sen approached her. Hina said close to nothing as they walked to their classroom, considering the awkwardly silent atmosphere and the way that Sen would give a jolt at times and whirl around to face anything that might be behind her. She looked tired, nervous, and terrified about something.

"Sen-chan," Hina murmured finally as they sat down in their usual seats, Sen's desk in front of Hina's. "Do shita no?"

"B-Betsuni." Sen stammered, still in the aftershock of being startled, somehow, by Hina's voice. "Etto…when is sensei one coming?"

(A/N: In Japan the classrooms don't switch, the teachers do.)

Hina frowned slightly before cupping her face in one hand propped up against the desk for support, gazing absentmindedly at the back of Sen's head as she lowered it down onto her desk, closing her eyes tiredly and quickly sitting up and opening them again when sensei came through the classroom door.

It would be another long day if Sen were being irresponsive.

-

Sen bolted from the classroom as the bell rung, running through the hallways at a breakneck speed and ignoring teachers who told her to slow down, students who scoffed and moved to the side as though touching her would burn their skin. She didn't stop running until she reached the alleyway where she had hidden the night before. She stopped, panting, and quickly doubled up after realizing she was catching peoples' attention. She threw on a jacket, pulling the hood low over her head and ducking into the darkness of the alleyway.

It was dark, nighttime, when she started to hear the sounds of someone laughing and speaking to something just outside of the alley. It was a male voice, amused clearly, yet sounded so inhumanely beautiful for even a voice alone that it was hard to imagine its keeper as anything but the same.

She leaned against the cold brick wall behind her; skin tingling with the sudden contact with such a low-temperature object. She peered down the alleyway, trying to attune her eyesight as if to hear whom it was with the beautiful voice. She groped about in the darkness before grabbing a small pocketknife out of her bag, holding it ready in her hands, just incase.

"Why the weapons?" The voice asked, laughing shortly afterward. It was closer, now, maybe a foot and a half way. Her breath hitched, pulse accelerating.

"But why is someone like you," asked the voice, giving a small pause. "Out here, in a place like this in a time like this?"

She didn't reply, just continued to try and decipher the silhouette, fingers beginning to feel raw in the cold air and rough manner that they were being pressed against the cool metal of the knife. The figure gave a wild cackle.

"Pocketknife, eh? That won't do any good against me."

Her heart skipped a beat as he perfectly analyzed her 'weapon', which meant he could see her clearly, whereas he was entirely indecipherable.

"But that wasn't the purpose of me coming here tonight,"

She bit her tongue before finally speaking. "What do you want?"

He laughed loudly as though her hidden threat in the words was cute or funny. "I adore you already." There was a pause in speaking in which involved more laughter. Suddenly the laughter stopped cold, and a serious air took over. "No. My purpose is confidential, to say the least."

She stared up at the silhouette in disbelief.

"You should go home, Hirotani-san."

Her eyes widened as he said her name, and she acted on instinct rather than wit. "No!" She shouted, loudly enough that she hoped someone would hear and get this prowler away from her.

"Ah," he murmured thoughtfully. "I told them we shouldn't have given her a choice." Before she had time to scrutinize what he said, two hands, icy cold, shot out of the darkness and grasped her wrists cruelly, bringing her forcibly to a standing position.

"If you wanted me to get up," she spat. "I could have done it myself."

He chuckled darkly. "You would have refused. Then it would be very hard to get the _initial purpose_ over with, wouldn't it?"

"Initial purpose…" She repeated slowly, unsurely.

"Consider this a kidnapping, Seno-chan!" The voice replied in an oddly cheerful, higher pitch.

Acting on instinct, once again, her eyes widened considerably, and she screamed as a last resort, begging mentally for someone to hear the commotion and come to see what was going on, hopefully resulting in the police being called.

"Alright, alright." The voice laughed, yet again. "It's not a kidnapping. More of helping the unwilling."

"Unwilling?" She repeated, confused.

"Unwilling of being helped." He replied coolly. She could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

"What are you going to do?" She asked uncertainly, taking a half step backward, away from this person, who ever it was.

"You won't remember a thing." He promised icily.

_Then there was only black.__

* * *

_Yaaay! The madness continues with a sequel! 


End file.
